“I’m proud to be Greek and representing the blue and white colors of that flag,” Stefanos Tsitsipas told reporters at the press conference following his semifinal win over Roberto Bautista.

The response came following a question about the 20-year-old’s opportunity to play in Australia as an Australian, which would require a change in his citizenship.

The issue came up in various media that the National Tennis Federation of Australia had once entertained the “adoption” of the young player when he was a teenager.

But Tsitsipas made it clear that he’s proud to represent Greece.

Tsitsipas father is Greek and his mother is Russian. He has often credited his success as a tennis player to being a product of two different cultures.

“It was very important that I came from a second background, that I had two different cultures, Greek and Russian, involved in my life,” Tsitsipas said. “It gave me a whole different perspective about things,” he said in an interview with The New York Times in 2018.

Watch Stefanos Tsitsipas’ Australian Open Semifinal Press Conference