Stefanos Tsitsipas knocked Roger Federer out of the ATP Finals semi-finals this afternoon – much to the discontent of a packed-out O2 Arena.
The atmosphere was electric as world No 3 Federer attempted to dispel his younger counterpart.
‘Let’s go Roger, let’s go’ was a consistent chant throughout the clash – but Tsitsipas silenced those Swiss followers with a 6-3, 6-4 win.
The Greek star’s victory was met with some mild applause but his reception was nothing like Novak Djokovic received when he faced Federer on Thursday.
And Tsitsipas was asked about the respect shown from the crowd in particular reference to Djokovic’s bad rep.
“Djokovic? Well, I don’t know. I don’t know how people react to things. I don’t know what people like,” Tsitsipas said.
“I hope they like me when I play out on the court, because I feel like I have a lot of things to offer for tennis.
“And I would love to see one day potentially a fan base and people come to the court like they do for Roger, because it’s an army. And you need that. You need an army like this.
“I want to feel connected with people. I want to be – I want to be known as a good tennis player because that’s what the fans want to see.
“They want to see a good personality, a good person who can provide for the others.”
Tsitsipas’ win over Federer was the second time he has beaten the 20-time Grand Slam winner this season, the previous coming at the Australian Open.
“The difference? Well, this time it was two sets. Last time it was four sets,” Tsitsipas explained.
“I can say I have improved since the last time I played him. Not last time. Since I played him at the Australian Open I have improved.
“I can see myself more as a grownup now than then. The difference wasn’t really big today. I just feel like despite being close to getting broken many times, he had plenty of breakpoints, I felt like I wasn’t serving bad.
“He was returning really well, putting every return back and making me play, which I understood. That made it difficult. Two different Stefanoses from Australia and today.”
