Tsitsipas celebrates in Monte Carlo to the sounds of Konstantinos Argiros

In a few days time, Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas will compete in Stockholm in the tournament where in 2018 he won the first title of his professional career. Before traveling to the Swedish capital, he celebrated in Monaco.

The Greek tennis player, who is based in Monte Carlo, ate with friends in a local restaurant listening to Konstantinos Argiros.

Top seed Tsitsipas will face either Illya Ivashka or Maxime Cressy in the second round of the Stockholm Open while second seed Cameron Norrie returns to action following a short spell on the sidelines.

World No 5 Tsitsipas is one of five players who have already booked their tickets in the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin so there is not as much pressure on the Greek.

However, he is coming off a finals defeat against Novak Djokovic as he lost in straight sets in the Astana Open last week and is eyeing a third title this season.

Tsitispas, who has a bye in the first round, could face fifth seed Tommy Paul in the quarter-final while third seed Frances Tiafoe is a projected semi-final opponent.

Paul faces Leo Borg, son of the great Bjorn, in the first round after the Swede was handed a wildcard. The duo also met in the first round in Stockholm last year with the American winning in straight sets.

Norrie headlines the bottom half of the draw and the British No 1 needs a good run if he wants to keep his hopes of qualifying for Turin alive.

The 27-year-old reached a career-high No 8 in September, but he was then forced to miss the Japan Open after testing positive for Covid-19 and has dropped back to No 10 in the ATP Rankings. He was last in action at the Korea Open, winning his opening match before pulling out of his quarter-final clash against Jenson Brooksby.

He also featured at the Laver Cup as he played as an alternate in the singles after Rafael Nadal withdrew from the tournament.

Before the Asian swing and positive Covid test, Norrie admitted his eyes were on Turin, saying: “For me, I’m going to make a big push.

“I think I’m knocking on the door there. I’m 11 or 12 in the race at the moment, so I’m going to try and make a big push there.”

He is set to play in Vienna and Paris, but the likes of Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Félix Auger-Aliassime and Taylor Fritz are all ahead of him in the race.

Norrie will face either Aslan Karatsev or a qualifier in the second round with seventh seed Holger Rune his projected quarter-final opponent.

Fourth seed Denis Shapovalov and fifth seed Alex de Minaur are also in the half and are projected to meet in the last eight with the winner likely facing Norrie.