In some ways, the story of Stefanos Tsitsipas and his younger brother, Petros Tsitsipas, is similar to that of many siblings around the globe. From a young age, they spent time together on the tennis court, dreaming of one day reaching the world’s elite.

Petros, now 23, remembers playing the sport with his older brother for the first time when he was six and Stefanos was eight at what now is the Four Seasons Hotel Athens.

“I was quite jealous of him because he got to play tennis with my parents and I was just outside of the court watching,” Petros told ATPTour.com. “So I remember I just jumped on court, grabbed the racquet, and I tried to play with him. But obviously he was way better than me and then my goal was always to catch up with him one day.” 

Now the Tsitsipas brothers are representing their country on one of the biggest stages in tennis: the United Cup. Stefanos, now 25, is a consistent presence in the Top 10 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and Petros, their country’s captain, has this year entrenched himself in the Top 100 of the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings.

Last year they won their first ATP Tour doubles trophy together in Antwerp, an emotional moment neither man, or their father Apostolos Tsitsipas, will ever forget.

“It's one of the most special moments. As Stefanos said, maybe it was the most special title of his life,” Apostolos said. “It was a dream. It came true. They won a professional event together and I'm sure that now they're dreaming more things.” 

Stefanos remembers first playing doubles with Petros at an Under-14 tournament in Greece. But they spent time on court together long before that. Stefanos vividly remembers the days when they would battle in a self-made court in their basement long before thousands watched them on site and millions followed from around the world.

“Being part of moments like this, we've talked about for many years now. In fact, we had our own mini-tennis court in our basement that we both built and we managed to get a mini net to complete the whole tennis court,” Stefanos said. “I remember the lines were made out of duct tape. So we used duct tape to make our own mini court without having any clue of dimensions or anything, just our own personal feeling. 

“We used to play there on the weekends for hours battling against each other. And yeah, it was just our weekend thing. I remember we used to play for hours down there in the basement.”

Stefanos added: “We definitely spent lots of time just trying to imagine ourselves being one day at the highest level and competing together, and also individually.

“We were manifesting that a lot, definitely.”

Apostolos, who still coaches Stefanos, well remembers watching his sons create their own games and build their dreams in that basement long before anyone knew the powerhouse Greeks.

“They built this court in the basement. And all the days they had off from school, they could spend hours playing this game, mini tennis I can call it. We even bought a special net for that,” Apostolos said. “And of course, they broke a lot of lamps. They broke a lot of equipment around this place, but they had a lot of fun.

“The kids have to play. It's part of the growing part of their development and it was really a pleasure to see them enjoying it so much. What it shows us all is sometimes, this game probably was a motivation for them to become tennis players, because they created their own game. They had their own rules. In their mind, it was something beautiful.”

Stefanos broke onto the scene at a young age, becoming junior World No. 1. The Greek enjoyed a largely smooth ascent to the upper echelons of the ATP Tour. In 2018, he won the Next Gen ATP Finals. The following year, he captured Nitto ATP Finals glory. Since March 2019, Tsitsipas has remained inside the Top 10.

At that point, Petros did not own a Pepperstone ATP Ranking. Now he is one of the world’s Top 100 doubles players, in part because of the motivation he derived from watching his brother’s rise.

“That's one of the biggest reasons why I'm here today still competing, still playing my sport, my favourite sport, our favourite sport,” Petros said. “He's definitely inspired lots of people all around Greece. Part of that is also me. And yeah, it's great. I also feel very proud as a brother that I can have a brother like him.”

Stefanos has been a global star for half a decade. But he speaks as glowingly about the doubles title he won with Petros — if not moreso — than any of his many singles accomplishments.

“The way to say that I get emotional is beyond imaginable. I do get emotional thinking about it because at the time, I wasn't thinking much of it, it was just a dream in my mind. And picturing me at the highest level of tennis, but also my brother alongside me, is in a way too good,” Stefanos said. “I think we both own our place at the highest level of the ATP through all of our hard work and through all of our commitment that we've put in through the years. 

“It's a very beautiful thing to witness and have on a daily basis. And we absolutely cherish it... that we are given this opportunity. We feel blessed and we don't take any moment for granted.”

The top-ranked player from a country competing in the United Cup elects the captain. Stefanos quickly reached out to his brother about leading the Greek team.

“I think he's very wise and I genuinely believe he has a lot of knowledge about the sport and tennis,” Stefanos said. “He might be young, he might be inexperienced, but he definitely carries a lot of wisdom with him.”

Many siblings dream. The Tsitsipas brothers are turning theirs into reality. And this week in Sydney they are helping carry their country’s flag on one of the world’s biggest stages.

“It's always the most special feeling to represent our country, to play for Greece, to play for our colours,” Petros said. “It's a great opportunity to do it here at the United Cup. We have two other chances throughout the year — that's for Davis Cup — but definitely doing it for the United Cup is also great. 

“It's definitely a different feeling, it feels more special and carrying that feeling with you on the court can also make you play better. It's just a different sort of situation and we are very blessed that we can do that and we're going to give it the best shot we can.”