Greek tennis sensation, Stefanos Tsitsipas, has powered his way through to the final of the French Open, defeating Germany’s Alexander Zverev in a nail-biting semifinal in Paris.

The 5-set epic, lasting 3 hours and 37 minutes, saw Tsitsipas win the first two sets (6-3 6-3) before losing the following two (6-4, 6-4) to the determined German player.

Evenly matched throughout, trading shot for shot, Tsitsipas held on to win the fifth and final set 6-3, making him the first Greek player in history to reach a senior-level Grand Slam final.

“It was nerve-wracking, so intense. That fifth set, first game, I think it was the most important game. I came back, stayed alive and had the crowd with me – they were cheering me on and giving me their energy,” he commented in front of cameras directly after the game.

“All I can think of is my roots, where I came from, a really small place outside Athens – my dream was to play on the big stage of the French Open one day, I would have never thought that I would.”

Tsitsipas has come agonizingly close in previous Grand Slams, reaching the semifinals of his last three consecutive tournaments, including 2020’s Roland-Garros.

The 22-year-old Greek, currently ranked 5th in the Men’s ATP World Singles standings, is the youngest player in the top 10. Widely-tipped as a successor to the world’s “Big Three” (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic), Tsitsipas is fast-becoming a fan favorite among tennis aficionados around the world, not just in his native Greece.

“I am happy Greece is part of the tennis community now, me and Maria have been elevating the sport and keeping the Greek tennis hopes alive,” Tsitsipas said, referring, of course, to fellow Athens-born player Maria Sakkari, who also made history this year by becoming the first Greek woman to reach the Grand Slam semifinals.

Tsitsipas goes on to face either Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s final.