It was August 2016 when the Elena Christofi decided at the age of 18 to make the long journey across the Atlantic. The young tennis player, who had previously participated in the Australian Open Junior and had two titles at Lyttos Beach in Heraklion on Crete, made the big step to America.

Greek tennis undoubtedly came into being thanks to Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari, but it is not limited to the present. On the contrary, she has a future, a special position that Christofi occupies, who has always had a bat in her hand for as long as she can remember.

“I started at five. My sister used to play tennis, so I kind of grew up on the court. “From a very young age, almost eight years old when I started playing games, tennis has become a part of my life.”

Interview with Maria Kouveli

Her first Grand Slam dashboard experience was at the Australian Open Junior in 2016: ““It was a great experience to be able to travel to Australia and play there.” highlighted features and added:

“The atmosphere was magical, there are a lot of Greeks coming and supporting. To be able to play in these stadiums where all the great players are playing and to be among them was special. It was a dream come true, to be able to play and be at such a high level and have all this experience”.

The 23-year-old Greek began her finance studies at the University of Georgia in 2016, where she received a scholarship, followed by a Masters in Financial Planning and Consulting.

But aside from her stellar career on the court – with a career high of 8th overall in the collegiate championship (ITA Collegiate Rankings) – Christofi also shone on the courses. Education and cultivation ended up being something that kept her very busy.

“I was settled in school, I was a good student and by high school I could combine them, I just lost a bit of training. In high school I went to a private school because they gave me the opportunity to play twice C ‘Lyceum, but following the Greek system with the Panhellenic ones you can not combine them, I decided, with the scholarship, that was given to me to go to America so I wouldn’t have to stop playing tennis.

I was wondering if I would play tennis professionally or not

Because of the world ranking (under 18 I had reached number 61 in the world) I was visited by different universities. I didn’t decide until late if I should go because at first I wasn’t sure if I wanted to. I was wondering if I would play tennis professionally or not.

So in May 2016 I made the decision to go to the University of Georgia and in August I did. It wasn’t easy to leave. At first I was worried about leaving my friends and family, but my family supported me. It was really a great experience going there.

Τthings were a little different. The program is tailored to help you perform well in both class and training. It was of course full from morning to night. Precisely because they take you for the sporting part, but also for the academic part, they try the most to help you so that you can achieve both”.

The truth is, it didn’t take long for her to stand out from the other athletes in college. On the contrary, it was one of the first years in which their presence was more than noticeable. In her freshman year of college, Elena Christofi secured a spot on the All-Southeastern Conference of the United States’ Team of the Year, which features the region’s top 14 tennis players.

Of course, the accolades continued for the Greek: in 2020, she emerged as a top athlete from the University of Georgia, which meant a very big honor when she won the nomination for the NCAA’s Best Female Athlete of the Year award.

This is the award for the best athlete of the year and the highest award in the United States university system, which includes athletes from all categories and from 24 different sports: “It was something very important. “It was an award that had to do with my academic as well as my sporting success.” mentioned features.

My biggest dream is to be in the top 10 in the world

The 23-year-old works hard and remains focused on her own “Ithaka”: “My biggest goal is to reach the highest possible level and compete again in the Grand Slam like I did in my youth. I want to be in the top 50 in the world, but in general my biggest dream is to be in the top 10 in the world and play both singles and doubles.

At the same time tTennis in Greece is experiencing one of its brightest seasons. The sport is thriving through the course of Stefanos Tsitsipas (No. 4 in the world) and Maria Sakkari (No. 8), with Elena Christofi stressing that both are serious personalities as well as great athletes.

“I know both of them very well. I met Maria in 2016 when we were on the women’s national team together. We talk here and there, I’ll ask her for advice. With Stefanos, on the other hand, we actually grew up together.” and I traveled constantly between the ages of 12 and 18. I have a very good relationship. They are both very good, both as people and as athletes. I 100% admire what they do because it’s more important how you’re off the field. They’re both very good guys.

Maria gives me motivation and inspiration to work hard and achieve what I dream of

Stefanos and Maria made tennis very big as a sport in Greece where nobody was involved. They have helped differentiate and grow in our country. Now you see that many are interested in learning and watching.

The only bad thing is that some people take opinions and make judgments without knowing it. What the two kids are doing is admirable and nobody can blame them and when they lose a game they go out and say ‘it wasn’t good’.

Maria is a source of inspiration. “Seeing a Greek woman achieve so many things gives me great motivation and inspiration to work hard and achieve what I dream of.”