Makedonas

17 yo Apostolos Siskos swam yesterday 1:56.79 in the 200m backstroke. The Olympic standard is 1:57.50, so it seems that he will have no problems achieving that once the qualification period starts. It's really nice to see that we have another young swimmer on the rise and his progression so far is very impressive: 2018: 2:13.89 2019: 2:08.59 2020: 2:04.56 2021: 2:00.45 2022: 1:58.66 2023: 1:56.79 and still plenty of time to keep improving this... He is committed to begin at Harvard University later this year, so I am not sure what we can expect from him in Paris. A lot of times when promising Greek athletes go to American universities, their progression stalls for a few years so I am not sure if it is the right decision.

2023 Australian Open: Men's Singles: Final: (4) Novak Djokovic SRB d. (3) Stefanos Tsitsipas GRE 6-3 7-6(4) 7-6(5)

It's too bad that Ginnis had to miss the Olympics last year due to injury, but I'm excited to see what he can do in 2026. Our best ever placing at the Winter Olympics (in any sport) was 13th, so I hope he can break that record

Great to see Sabalenka finally win her first Grand Slam title. She is a worthy winner for sure! I hope to be able to say the same about my countryman Tsitsipas although I am not so sure, it will be very difficult against the GOAT. It's too bad he had to face Djokovic in both of his slam finals while others had to play against the likes of Casper Ruud...anyways it is great to have a Greek player in the final and even if he doesn't win the title, I think he will win one in the near future

Emmanouil Karalis 5.83 =WL PB in pole vault yesterday in Germany. Perhaps this is the year he will finally reach his potential?

2023 Australian Open: Men's Singles: Semifinals: (3) Stefanos Tsitsipas GRE d. (18) Karen Khachanov RUS 7-6(2) 6-4 6-7(6) 6-3 Final: (3) Stefanos Tsitsipas GRE vs. (4) Novak Djokovic SRB

2023 Australian Open: Men's Singles: Quarterfinals: (3) Stefanos Tsitsipas GRE d. Jiri Lehecka CZE 6-3 7-6(2) 6-4 Semifinals: (3) Stefanos Tsitsipas GRE vs. (18) Karen Khachanov RUS

2023 Australian Open: Men's Singles: Round 4: (3) Stefanos Tsitsipas GRE d. (15) Jannik Sinner ITA 6-4 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-3 Quarterfinals: (3) Stefanos Tsitsipas GRE vs. Jiri Lehecka CZE

I was not surprised by this, Ostapenko is an aggressive player and if she has a good day not much can be done. Gauff is a good fighter but she has limitations in her game. However she is very young and seems to be hardworking so I'm sure she will improve and get to the next level but it might take time! Also, who knew that Magda Linette would be the last Pole standing in Melbourne?

Yes, it was a crazy, rollercoaster match! So many emotions, I was so stressed and nervous, but in the end Stefanos stepped up when it mattered. I am so proud of him and proud as a Greek to have an athlete like him. He is truly remarkable and a fighter. I hope he can continue to advance in this tournament. He deserves it! @Gianlu33I see from your reaction you must be disappointed and it is understandable, but Jannik played a great match and you should also be very proud of him! His time will come if he plays more matches like this. It is a pity that both players could not be winners today, this was too good of a match to be played in the round of 16, it was worthy of a semifinal especially seeing the way the draw has collapsed here!

She tried for 4.38 today but unfortunately was not successful. It was also revealed that she will be leaving to go study in the United States and compete there. It might not be the best decision because most of our athletes who did so in the past stopped improving. Even Stefanidi who had a world junior record stopped improving, and only AFTER she completed her studies did she start getting new PBs again... However we had a big U18NR today in the men's shot put by Dimitrios Antonatos (20.62m with 5kg, Mouzenidis had the previous record with 19.96m), and also Nikoleta Michailidou equaled our U18NR in the women's high jump with 1.83m.

Fruhvirtova also took a very long medical timeout down 2-3 in the third set. She did not look injured to me. If another player did that then they would be heavily criticized... Let's not forget the fake narratives being spread about Tsitsipas at the 2021 US Open, first by 'Sir' Andy Murray and then by others in the match against Alcaraz, where Tsitsipas took a toilet break after WINNING the 4th set 6-0 and was booed by the New York crowd for it, which makes no sense because he clearly had the momentum as he bageled Alcaraz in that set...

Last night Tsitsipas brothers lost 6-7(6) 6-4 6-7(7) in the second round of doubles to the number 1 seeded team. It was a great performance and too bad that they couldn't win, but Petros is definitely improving in doubles and soon will be top 100. I think it is quite realistic at this point to expect Greece to have possibly 3 quotas in tennis for Paris 2024 as long as Petros stays healthy, I guess he will have to be top 75 or so by then, I think we will qualify the brothers to play men's doubles They also did not get broken the entire match. It also looks good for our upcoming Davis Cup tie against Ecuador, which will not be easy as they have a good doubles pairing as well but we will be at home at the Olympic Indoor Hall in front of 10,000 fans or so, which will easily break the attendance record for a tennis match in Greece (Olympic tennis stadium only seats 8,000).

I watched the end of this match, it seemed Vondrousova was injured and struggling to move. I was shocked by the handshake, very cold and unfriendly. I thought they were going to be friendly as they are from the same country.

It's quite funny because she used to peak for the GS tournaments. In 2017 she was barely top 100 for most of the year (even dropped out briefly) yet made R3 of Aus Open, Wimbledon, and US Open. After the US Open she was only ranked 82 despite having three GS third rounds on her ranking. Now she is a top 10 player and her last four GS results have been R2/R3/R2/R3... She used to always beat these types of players until about 8 months ago, now she has a lot of losses against players she would never lose to before, for example Trevisan and now Zhu. I don't know if it is coaching that needs to be changed, I mean Tom Hill brought her from being a top 50 player to top 3. Last year her results started to not be good anymore so I was thinking maybe it's time for a change, but then she made the final of Guadalajara out of nowhere and qualified for semifinals of WTA Finals. She has a lot of points to defend between now and Indian Wells (St Petersburg F, Doha SF, Indian Wells F) but after that not much until October, so hopefully she'll play with less pressure when her ranking drops a little bit because as we saw in the match against Zhu she was too passive and allowed Zhu to dictate play and it seemed that Maria was afraid to go for her shots and kept hitting in the middle of the court I am proud though that Maria at least tried her best and fought until the end as she always does, in an era when there are many lazy/unmotivated players on WTA who always give up and don't care.

You did quite well in the end!

Thank you for this! Unfortunately Karachaliou will be representing Portugal and not Greece.

2023 Australian Open: Men's Singles: Round 1: (3) Stefanos Tsitsipas GRE d. Quentin Halys FRA 6-3 6-4 7-6(6) Round 2: (3) Stefanos Tsitsipas GRE d. (WC) Rinky Hijikata AUS 6-3 6-0 6-2 Round 3: (3) Stefanos Tsitsipas GRE d. Tallon Griekspoor NED 6-2 7-6(5) 6-3 Round 4: (3) Stefanos Tsitsipas GRE vs. (15) Jannik Sinner ITA Women's Singles: Round 1: (6) Maria Sakkari GRE d. Yue Yuan CHN 6-1 6-4 Round 2: (6) Maria Sakkari GRE d. (Q) Diana Shnaider RUS 3-6 7-5 6-3 Round 3: Lin Zhu CHN d. (6) Maria Sakkari GRE 7-6(3) 1-6 6-4 Men's Doubles: Round 1: Tsitsipas/Tsitsipas GRE/GRE d. Ramanathan/Reyes-Varela IND/MEX 3-6 7-5 6-3 Round 2: (1) Koolhof/Skupski NED/GBR d. Tsitsipas/Tsitsipas GRE/GRE 7-6(6) 4-6 7-6(7)

I'm curious, who did you have for Greece in sailing, athletics, and swimming? Thank you in advance.

Unfortunately, players must be entered in either singles or doubles in order to play mixed doubles. So that woman would have to be qualified in another event in order to also play mixed doubles. However, I could see the Netherlands having more men as they can have another doubles team and make two teams from Botic, Middelkoop, Haase, Koolhof, Rojer...

Νίκησε με 15-10 και πέρασε στον τελικό!

We actually had 83 in Tokyo so it should be -2 for us, not +6. I don't see how Petrounias doesn't qualify (he didn't compete at the World Championships so I guess that's why he was excluded here) and 11 in athletics and 7 in swimming are very low numbers, but it's nice to see us return in boxing, diving, and equestrian after some years without quotas in those sports. Great work! Very much appreciated! I'd also be curious to see the gender breakdown.

Tentoglou started the season yesterday with 8.33 in Athens. This is his best start ever and makes us wonder if he will smash the 8.55 he did indoors last year. Also our 17 yo Iliana Triantafyllou (pole vault), who won gold last year at the European U18 Championships, cleared 4.30 today in Thessaloniki. Her previous PB was 4.15 outdoors and 3.35 indoors. Stefanidi's U20NR of 4.37 is in danger and will most likely be broken by Triantafyllou over the next two years.

2023 Australian Open: Women's Singles Qualifying: Round 2: Olga Danilovic SRB d. Despina Papamichail GRE 6-3 6-1 Men's Singles: Round 1: (3) Stefanos Tsitsipas GRE vs. Quentin Halys FRA Women's Singles: Round 1: (6) Maria Sakkari GRE vs. Yue Yuan CHN