A legion of fans wrapped in Greece flags crammed into a corner of Court 3 and they helped Tsitipas over the line against an experienced opponent.
Tsitsipas, Khachanov, Coric and Medvedev are all ranked inside the world’s top 20 and each time one of them does well, the others sit up and take notice.
“If they can make it, I feel like I can make it.“
“For sure, it inspires me,” he said in Melbourne this week. “If they can make it, I feel like I can make it. It’s nice to see. I don’t actually feel jealousy or these emotions for them, for my (fellow) younger generation players. I feel proud because they make me a better player. They may make me work harder and want more in my tennis career. So if they’re doing well, it helps me develop as a player, as weird as it may sound.”
Medvedev, seeded in a grand slam for the first time this year at No 15, plays Ryan Harrison in the second round on Thursday.
The Russian recently reached the final in Brisbane and agrees with Tsitsipas that the rivalry between the young guns is spurring them on.
“I think that’s what’s pushing us forward probably, especially if we’re talking about me, Karen (Khachanov) and Andrei (Rublev),” he said. “We’ve known each other since we were eight and starting from 14, we were one of the best in the country. When I see Karen play good, I’m happy for him but I’m always I want to be better than him.