FILE PHOTO: Actor Margot Robbie attends the premiere of the movie 'Babylon' in London, Britain, January 12, 2023. REUTERS/Toby Melville
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Stefanos Tsitsipas produced a blockbuster performance to reach the Australian Open semi-final on Tuesday then sent out an invitation to actress Margot Robbie to come and support him.
The Greek, who enjoys great support in Melbourne, surprised fans during his on-court interview after beating Czech Jiri Lehecka by admitting he was a big fan of Robbie, who most recently starred in the film "Babylon".
"Australia is such a great country," Tsitsipas said. "I like a lot of Aussie things. One of my favourite actresses comes from here, Margot Robbie."
Pushed to shed more light on his apparent crush by interviewer Jim Courier, the 24-year-old Tsitsipas added: "It would be nice to see her here one day," confirming that it was an invitation for her to come and watch.
Tsitsipas will play Russian Karen Khachanov in his fourth Australian Open semi-final, hoping to go one step further than on the previous occasions.
He will certainly be favourite against Khachanov and Tsitsipas says he feels in great shape, highlighting a new mental edge in his quest to win his first Grand Slam title.
"I'm feeling great with my tennis. I don't think I felt so good in a long time. I will definitely say yes to it," the third seed told reporters. "I'm a different player, playing different.
"My mentality is different. When I'm out on the court, I don't really think of negatives, to be honest. I just go out there and play the game."
Tsitsipas, who reached the French Open final in 2021 when he lost to Novak Djokovic, has seen other young players move past him in the rankings, but said it does not concern him and was happy that the focus switches to others.
"I passed through this myself. At some point it fades out a little bit 'cause you are an adult. You are not any more a kid. These guys are still sort of in the transition mode. They're still there," he said.
"I'm very happy to be out on the court. I'm very happy to be performing. I'm very happy to hit some good shots. It's just this whole dynamic that has made me very hungry and has created a lot of desire for me to be playing tennis."
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
