Stefanos Tsitsipas described what’s common among tennis families – he is the sole breadwinner for his family.   Parents give up their careers to travel with their children, putting tennis ahead of everything else.

My parents travel with me, help me, do everything to make me succeed. It’s not always easy. I never thought about it, but now in our family only I earn money. This is a responsibility. My brothers take an example from me, and this makes me happy.

I feel that I can provide for my family, my brothers study at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy, we settled in the south of France. It’s all thanks to me and my tennis. It is very nice.

-Stefanos Tsitsipas

Tsitsipas has two brothers – Petros and Pavlos. Petros Tsitsipas, who is 20 years old,  is currently ranked 986 in the world. He occasionally plays doubles with Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Tennis is an expensive sport. Training at a top tennis academy can easily cost over $50,000. Success is never guaranteed. A lot of things can go wrong – particularly with injuries. Many compare an investment in a tennis career to gambling. 

Very few families have more than one successful player on the tour. Novak Djokovic’s brothers – Marko and Djordje did not find any success on the tour. Mischa and Alexander Zverev have been successful but they are the exceptions.