“I would like to remember my Olympic roots.” The Tsitsipas are going for Olympic gold, like their Russian grandfather
Mikhail Georgiev July 28, 2024, 17:05 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Brothers Stefanos and Petros can now triumph on the courts of Paris 68 years after Soviet footballer Sergei Salnikov won the title in Melbourne.
Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, 25, is one of the best tennis players of the last decade. Tsitsipas played in two Grand Slam finals (Roland Garros – 2021 and Australian Open – 2023), but lost to Novak Djokovic.
Stefanos has an original view on many issues. For example, he would rather achieve the status of world number one than win a Slam. It is also very important for Tsitsipas to win medals at the Olympic Games, unlike many tennis players who do not value it too much compared to ATP competitions. The fact is that Stefanos does not forget his Russian roots. Soviet footballer Sergei Salnikov is the grandfather of the Greek tennis player. In 1956, Salnikov won gold medals in Melbourne. Tsitsipas is keen to become a champion of the Games (or at least take a medal), like his great ancestor.
To this day, Stefanos wears his grandfather’s jersey with a “ten” on the back, which he won gold in Melbourne, to every tournament. Tsitsipas hopes that one day the family heirloom will bring him good luck. This may well happen at the current Olympic Games in Paris.
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Tsitsipas’s relic is his grandfather’s shirt. In 1956, Sergei Salnikov conquered Melbourne.
In 2021, Tsitsipas made his debut at the Tokyo Games, but lost to Frenchman Hugo Humbert in the third round. In 2024, in Paris, Stefanos has a much better chance of success. Firstly, he has become a much more experienced tennis player. Secondly, the Games are now being held on his favourite clay surface. Tsitsipas has won the Monte Carlo Masters three times and played in the final of Roland Garros, where the current Olympic Games are being held. Stefanos could well aim for medals in all three categories. He performs not only in singles, but also in pairs with his brother Petros, as well as in mixed doubles with Maria Sakkari.
Stefanos and Petros Tsitsipas
Photo: Clive Mason/Getty Images
In singles, however, Tsitsipas is not among the favourites, given the presence of Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic in the draw. But if you are lucky, there is a chance of at least getting bronze. But in pairs and mixed doubles, anything can happen. Petros Tsitsipas is an experienced and quite strong doubles player, and his mixed doubles partner Maria Sakkari is constantly in the top 10 of the WTA rankings. Again, with luck, Stefanos is quite capable of becoming an Olympic champion, like his grandfather. The drop in this case will not be so important.
“This is one of the goals of the season. My grandfather Sergei, my mother’s father, won gold as a member of the USSR football team in Melbourne in 1956. I would like to remember the Olympic roots,” Tsitsipas said before the Tokyo Games, but these words still apply.
Sergei Salnikov is the legendary forward of Spartak, D’nnamo, Zenit and the USSR national team. In the 1940s and 1950s, he not only won the Olympic Games, but also won the USSR championship three times and the USSR Cup five times. He retired from football in 1960, after which he worked as a coach and television commentator.
Sergei Salnikov
Photo: Emilio Ronchini/Getty Images
Salnikov’s life was cut tragically short. On May 9, 1984, Spartak veterans played with younger teammates. In the locker room at the end of the match, Sergei shouted to his teammate: “Old man, did you see the pass I gave him!” After that, he bent down to untie his boots and fell. Resuscitation efforts did not help: Salnikov died of a heart attack at the age of 58. Unfortunately, he did not see what kind of sports dynasty his descendants created.
His daughter Yulia was a tennis champion of the USSR. In the late 1980s she moved to Greece, married her coach Apostolos Tsitsipas and had four children, all of whom play tennis. Stefanos is the main sporting pride of the family. Performance in the era of the Big Three has so far prevented him from winning the Slam, but the 25-year-old will still have a chance in the future. For a start, Tsitsipas would be quite happy with an Olympic medal in Paris. Stefanos knows Russian very well thanks to his mother. He regrets not being able to find his grandfather, but strives to honour his memory by winning an Olympic medal. Paris 2024 is perhaps the best chance to achieve this.
