The “Greek Freak” beats the GOAT

Two time defending champion of the Australian Open Men’s Title, Roger Federer lost to 20 year old Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth round of the Australian Open on January 20, 2019. Federer, commonly thought of as the GOAT (Greatest of all time), is a 20 time grand slam champion and has been ranked number one in the world for a record 310 weeks. Tsitsipas, called the “Greek Freak,” by match commentators, has a career high ranking of 15 in the world and, prior to the Australian open, has never gotten passed the fourth round of a Grand Slam Tournament.

Federer was left in shock after the loss, as the “Big Four’s” dominance has been impenetrable. Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, and Roger Federer have been the top tennis players, winning 53 out of the past 60 Grand Slams. In fact, for the past 15 years, no one, outside of these four men, has been ranked number one in the world of men’s tennis.

Yet in recent years, younger players have started to threaten the reign of these tennis superstars. Before facing Federer, Tsitsipas had beaten Djokovic six months earlier at the Rogers Cup. Djokovic, a 14 time Grand Slam Champion, was left stunned by the young player, who was still in his teens at the time. Tsitsipas has also defeated Kevin Anderson, runner-up at Wimbledon and number 8 in the world, at another tournament in Portugal.

Not only has Tsitsipas been challenging the dominance of the older players, but Alexander Zverev has also been stepping onto the scene. Zverev, a 21 year old German, won the ATP finals at the end of 2018 by upsetting both Federer and Djokovic. This is not the first time he has beaten Federer, as he had first accomplished this feat at the 2016 Halle Open. Yet Zverev has had disappointing results in Grand Slam tournaments, never making it past a quarter final. He has had mounting pressure to deliver a win, but he lost to Milos Raonic in the fourth round of the Australian Open.

With new players coming into the field, experts are discussing a “new era” of tennis. With Federer already at 37 years old and Murray talking about retirement, this seems ever the more likely. However, Federer isn’t retiring yet, and he will probably want payback on the Greek Freak in their next tournament.