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Australian Open title hope Stefanos Tsitsipas has a crack at Aussie lingo, but he mispronounces one sentence after his first win: ‘Crikey, that was a tear, mate!’
- Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas has a crack at Aussie slang after victory
- The crowd favorite described his Australian Open win as a ‘ripsnortner’
- Tsitsipas also erroneously said that he was “like a lizard in water.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas endeared himself to the Melbourne crowd after his Australian Open first round victory on Monday by using some Aussie slang, but got one sentence badly wrong.
The Greek third seed started the tournament in style with an impressive straight-set win over Frenchman Quentyn Halys.
Stefanos Tsitsipas endeared himself to the Melbourne crowd after his victory in the first round of the Australian Open on Monday using some Aussie slang.
The Greek third seed tried his hand at the local lingo after starting the tournament in style with an impressive two-set win over Frenchman Quentyn Halys.
The 24-year-old crowd favourite, who has reached the Australian Open semifinals three times in recent years, dropped just seven games in the first two sets and looked to be in fantastic form.
In his subsequent on-court interview, Tsitsipas adopted a fake Australian accent and used some local slang terms to describe his performance.
“Crikey, that was a fellow ripsnorter,” he said. “I am very happy to be playing at the top, like a lizard in the water.”
Tsitsipas stumbled over the last line, which should have been “like a drinking lizard”, but the Melbourne crowd laughed it off anyway.
‘I go full [on the slang], I promise… I’m happy I got the cookie at the end, so that was great. I’m happy to be back in Australia, it’s one of my favorite places to play tennis,” she continued.
“I commit to the lingo, I don’t do that often when I travel, but when I’m back here I really enjoy playing tennis, seeing some of my cousins and feeling at home here.”
Tsitsipas stumbled over his last line of local slang, which should have been ‘totally like a drinking lizard’, but the Melbourne crowd laughed anyway.
‘It’s great to be back, it’s great to get support like this. He was challenging, he came up with some good tennis towards the end of the third set.”
Melbourne’s strong ties to the Greek community are well known, and Tsitsipas has often commented how much he enjoys making the journey into the deep.
The Greek number 1 also shares a bitter rivalry with Nick Kyrgios, with whom he had a verbal spat earlier this year, but unfortunately for the fans, they will not meet at the Open due to the Australian’s surprise withdrawal on Monday.
Melbourne’s Greek heritage is well known, and Tsitsipas has often commented on how much he enjoys taking the journey below.
Tsitsipas will take on the talented young Australian Rinky Hijikata on Wednesday for a spot in the third round.