A Big Fat Greek Party! Sakkari and Tsitsipas call for more support at United Cup

The Greek duo have a very firm idea of what the stands should look like as they take on Belgium

29th December 2018, RAC Arena, Perth, Australia; Hopman Cup Tennis, sponsored by Mastercard; Maria Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas of Team Greece come together during the mixed doubles against Team Great Britain (Action Plus/Panoramic)

Carrie Dunn

December 30, 2022

Maria Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas have led Greece to a first United Cup round-robin tie win over Bulgaria – and now they want more support when they begin their encounter with Belgium.

Tsitsipas got things started with a battling 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4) win over Grigor Dimitrov on Thursday – then on Friday, Sakkari beat Viktoriya Tomova 6-3, 6-2, and then paired up with Tsitsipas to win 6-4, 6-4 in the mixed doubles against Gergana Topalova and Adrian Andreev.

And when they took their seats in the press conference, they also took the opportunity to call on expatriate Greeks – and other tennis fans – in Perth to come out and cheer them on.

“I’m looking forward to get a chance to represent my country again against a different nation, and hopefully we can get some good Greek support out there,” said Tsitsipas. “We have had quite a few people in the last couple of days, but I’m looking for an even more ecstatic type of atmosphere.”

“‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’,” interrupted Sakkari, referring to the 2002 film starring Nia Vardolos and John Corbett, which frequently shows the extent and magnitude of Greek celebrations.

“A Big Fat Greek Wedding taking place in RAC Arena,” agreed Tsitsipas. “Cousins, grandmas, uncles, all come and join us.”

“Cats, dogs!” added Sakkari.

Tsitsipas was quick to thank the support they’d had so far, saying with a smile: “The crowd, it’s good. But let’s put it that way: it has potential!”

Team Greece begin their tie against Team Belgium on Day 5, with Tsitsipas due to face David Goffin in the men’s singles.