{"id":381735,"date":"2026-01-21T06:22:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T06:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/381735\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T06:22:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T06:22:11","slug":"australian-open-stefanos-tsitsipas-said-certain-tennis-players-with-attitude-and-ego-could-learn-from-nba-star-after-sealing-second-round-berth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/381735\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Open: Stefanos Tsitsipas said ‘certain tennis players’ with ‘attitude and ego’ could learn from NBA star after sealing second-round berth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tsitsipas names ‘humble’ NBA star he admires, says ‘certain tennis players’ develop ‘egos’<\/p>\n

Video credit: TNT Sports<\/p>\n

Stefanos Tsitsipas<\/a> has suggested “certain tennis players” could learn how to be more “humble” from the example set by NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a>.Speaking about the dynamics of elite players all sharing a locker room following his Australian Open<\/a> first-round victory over Shintaro Mochizuki, Tsitsipas said there is generally a good feeling among the players.<\/p>\n

The Greek, though, said “certain players” are too “attached to their results”, which can culminate in some having “an attitude and a bit of an ego”.<\/p>\n

“We don’t have a lot of situations like that,” Tsitsipas said when asked if there is ever any awkwardness among the players. “I feel like everyone is cool with everyone. <\/p>\n

“Obviously, there are players that it’s harder to get a ‘hi’ from when you pass them.<\/p>\n

“I was having a conversation with my fitness coach today and, you know, one thing I don’t understand about certain tennis players is how they develop a bit of an attitude and a bit of an ego once they make one or two good results. <\/p>\n

\"picture\"<\/p>\n

Tsitsipas ‘locked in’ to deliver ‘great level of tennis’ in Aus Open first round<\/p>\n

Video credit: TNT Sports<\/p>\n

“Their whole personality kind of changes. I wouldn’t say arrogant. Perhaps some of them.”<\/p>\n

Tsitsipas went on to highlight two-time NBA MVP Antetokounmpo as an example of an elite athlete who is “humble”, and said he wishes more tennis players led by his example.<\/p>\n

“I just wish more tennis players weren’t attached to their results and to what they do that determines who they are,” Tsitsipas said. <\/p>\n

“I love humble people. That’s one of the reasons I actually admire a lot Giannis Antetokounmpo. <\/p>\n

“He’s achieved so much through basketball. He’s one of the most humble athletes I’ve ever met and spent time with. I wish more tennis players were like that.<\/p>\n

“I’m not saying tennis players are arrogant, I’m just saying there are a few instances of tennis players here and there that, you know, you will try and say hi to them, I’m not asking to like have a conversation with that particular player, but it will be nice when you cross someone, at least say ‘hi’.<\/p>\n

“I’ve realised certain people are just not at the same frequency, that’s all. I just wish it was more normal on the tour to be like that.”<\/p>\n

Former world No. 3 Tsitsipas is the 31st seed at this year’s Australian Open, following a frustrating 2025 campaign in which he previously said made him consider retiring<\/a>. <\/p>\n

But signs for the new campaign were positive after he came from a set behind to dismiss Mochizuki in the first round in Melbourne, setting up an enticing second-round clash against fellow seed Tomas Machac. <\/p>\n

Tsitsipas explained the changes he made after the challenging first set.<\/p>\n

“I felt like I was just swinging so hard and nothing was really coming out of my racquet,” the 27-year-old said. “So I felt like I was spending more energy than him. He seemed more effortless in the way he was trying to build the points and come up with good shots.<\/p>\n

\"picture\"<\/p>\n

Monfils and Fritz star in best shots from Day 3 of Australian Open<\/p>\n

Video credit: TNT Sports<\/p>\n

“I felt like I was constantly swinging, swinging, swinging. I had a lot of unforced errors at the net, more than I’m used to. So it was a question of how do I manage and how do I stream my energy better knowing when to attack, and also allowing myself to not have every muscle of my body contracted every single time I’m trying to hit.<\/p>\n

“So it did help, the thing I just mentioned. It helped. Eased up my shots a little bit. It gave me a bit of free depth. I didn’t have to swing as hard. So I did find a lot of help there.<\/p>\n

“My mind’s also changed. I felt like the more the match progresses, the more you get to play points, the more you read the game, the more you start becoming acclimatised to the shot-making and angles that come your way.”<\/p>\n

Tsitsipas, who has never clinched a major title, reached the Australian Open final three years ago, where he lost to Novak Djokovic in straight sets.<\/p>\n

Stream every match of the 2026 Australian Open live and on-demand on discovery+<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tsitsipas names ‘humble’ NBA star he admires, says ‘certain tennis players’ develop ‘egos’ Video credit: TNT Sports Stefanos…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381736,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[126862,101,118,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-381735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-australian-open-2026","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}