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Stefanos Tsitsipas had a memorable 2021 season, reaching his maiden Grand Slam final at the French Open. But the Greek now finds himself on a unique list that is only remotely related to tennis.
The World No. 4 features on the list of the most mispronounced names of the year.
The US Captioning Company, which is responsible for producing subtitles on television, compiled the list commissioned by language-learning platform Babbel. Now in its sixth year, the list has been prepared following a survey of its members that took into account the most challenging words to pronounce by newsreaders and television presenters.
Tsitsipas got a lot more coverage this year after having a career-best season that saw him finish as the runner-up to Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros, apart from winning his first ATP Masters 1000 title at Monte Carlo.
With the Greek regularly popping up in the biggest stories from the tennis world this year, newscasters and commentators had a hard time pronouncing his name.
The list even caught the attention of Tsitsipas himself, who proudly shared the news on his Twitter handle with an emoji.
Apart from the tennis ace, the other athlete to find a mention on this list was the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles center, Jason Kelce.
Among the other words to make it to the list were COVID-19 variant Omicron, Chinese fashion company Shein, cryptocurrencies Dogecoin & Ethereum, and the city of Glasgow.
Stefanos Tsitsipas on the 2022 Australian Open entry list after surgery
Stefanos Tsitsipas withdrew from the ATP Finals after suffering a loss to World No. 5 Andrey Rublev in his opening match. The Greek subsequently underwent surgery on his right elbow to treat an issue that had been bothering him for the past few months.
The World No. 4 updated his fans with a lengthy Facebook post where he announced his plans to do his pre-season for a couple of weeks in Dubai before heading to Australia.
Thanking all his fans for their constant support and encouragement, the Greek wrote:
"Focused on a healthier and happier future. Next stop, pre-season in Dubai two weeks from now and then looking forwards to Australia."
While Tsitsipas' post was reassuring, it still put his chances of playing the first Major of the season in a cloud of doubt.
However, with the Greek's name now on the entry list for the 2022 Australian Open, which was released on December 8, his fans can breathe a sigh of relief.
