XpatAthens
Monday, 21 January 2019 07:00
Stefanos Tsitsipas Beats Federer And Reaches His First Grand Slam Quarter-Final
* Update: January 22, 2019
Stefanos Tsitsipas has reached the Australian Open Semi Finals this morning, after winning the match against Roberto Bautista Agut.
Stefanos Tsitsipas has reached the Australian Open Semi Finals this morning, after winning the match against Roberto Bautista Agut.
Tsitsipas is the first Greek tennis player to make it to the semi-finals of a Grand Slam. Furthermore, he is the youngest man to reach the Australian Open semi-finals since Andy Roddick in 2003 and the youngest at any Grand Slam since Novak Djokovic at the US Open in 2007.
The emerging Greek tennis player will face Rafael Nadal on Thursday, January 24 and everyone in Greece will be cheering him on!
The emerging Greek tennis player will face Rafael Nadal on Thursday, January 24 and everyone in Greece will be cheering him on!
Good luck, Stefanos!
20-year-old Greek tennis star, Stefanos Tsitsipas grew up idolizing Roger Federer. With his 99 tour-level titles and more than 300 weeks atop the ATP rankings, Federer is the one player that Stefanos Tsitsipas has been striving to become like.
Over the years, Tsitsipas has pored over Federer’s highlights on YouTube, both to admire his level and see how the Swiss’ opponents tried to attack him.
So, in a way Tsitsipas’ first ATP Head2Head match against Federer, in the fourth round of the Australian Open, was surreal; beating Federer in four sets for the biggest win of his life, a dream come true. “I just managed to close that match and stay strong, beat my idol,” Tsitsipas said. “My idol today became pretty much my rival.”
Stefanos' victory over one of the most celebrated tennis players of all time has brought him to the Australian Open quarter finals, where he will play against Roberto Bautista Agut on Tuesday January 22.
Roger Federer himself praised the work that Stefanos has put in the past couple of years, pointing out his wins over Novak Djokovic and Kevin Anderson as signs of his progress. “That's what you need to do to get to the next level. He's doing that. It's really nice for him,” Federer said. “I see him definitely being high up in the game for a long time. That was a good night for him tonight.”
To read more, please visit: ATP Tour
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Monday, 28 January 2019 07:00
Has The Phaistos Disk Finally Been Deciphered?
It’s been 10 years since British linguist Gareth Owens and Oxford University phonetics professor John Coleman have been working towards deciphering the enigmatic Phaistos Disk. The Phaistos Disk is a Minoan Bronze Age clay disk that was discovered in Crete in 1908 by Italian archaeologist Luigi Pernier.
Following ther extensive study of the disc, the two professors will present the results of their research at Cambridge University on February 3 in a lecture titled ‘From Linear B to the Phaistos Disk.’
Even though experts have been trying to decipher the script for decades, according to Owens and Coleman they can now read 99 % of the text, which is a Minoan lyrical hymn to a goddess. In fact, Gareth Owens has described the hymn as ‘The Bible of Crete.’
Listen to the voice of the disc, here.
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Monday, 04 February 2019 07:00
Promising Greek Startups
Last April Equifund drastically changed the picture of the Greek start-up ecosystem after announcing that almost €500 million will be poured into new businesses in the next five years.
This amount of money may seem small in comparison to funding in other countries, but for Greek standards it is an enormous step, especially, given the circumstances in Greece during the past few years.
A couple of months ago, Found.ation, a leading technology and innovation enabling platform in SE Europe, partnered with EIT Digital, a leading European digital innovation and entrepreneurial education organization, and Velocity. Partners VC to release the 'Start-ups in Greece' report for the 2nd consecutive year.
The report is mainly focused on the 10 most funded start-ups in Greece – some of them already well known in the international start-up community – such as Softomotive, Workable, and Viva Wallet. The report also includes start-ups that still haven’t gained popularity but have the potential to become the next ‘game changers’ of the local start-up scene!
Get the full report here.
To read this article in full, please visit: Forbes
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Thursday, 07 February 2019 07:00
Greece Expecting Twice As Many Visitors From The US In 2019
Great news for tourism as Greece is expecting the number of visitors from the US to double in 2019!
According to pre-bookings so far and data collected at the New York Times Travel Show, travel professionals in Greece are expecting a double-digit rise in 2019. In 2018 more than 1.2 million travelers from the US chose Greece for their holiday destination while direct flights to Athens increased by 10%.
Last spring, the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) held its Destination Expo in Athens, where US travel experts reiterated the increasing demand by American holidaymakers for Greece. It is also worth mentioning that the year-round direct flights between Athens and New York have greatly facilitated traveling to Greece from the US.
To read this article in full, please visit: Greek Travel Pages
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Tuesday, 12 February 2019 07:00
'The Favourite' Takes Home Seven BAFTA Awards
Yorgos Lanthimos's tragicomic royal drama “The Favourite” won 7 awards at Sunday's British Academy Film Awards. “The Favourite” received the outstanding British film and screenplay awards as well as prizes for production design, costumes, hair and makeup. Olivia Colman and Rachel Weisz were also awarded for best and supporting actress respectively.
"Thank you for celebrating our female-dominated movie about women in power," said Deborah Davis, who won the original screenplay award alongside co-writer Tony McNamara.
Alfonso Cuaron's "Roma," won awards for best picture, director, cinematography and foreign-language film. Rami Malek won the best actor trophy for his gripping performance as Freddie Mercury in “Bohemian Rhapsody”.
The BAFTAs, will be scoured for clues on who might triumph at the Academy Awards on February 24 as this year’s frontrunners, Yorgos Lanthimos’s "The Favourite" an Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” have each received 10 Oscar nominations.
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Tuesday, 19 February 2019 07:00
Two Greek Women Are Getting Ready To Conquer Mount Everest
Two Greek women are set to conquer Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain, in an expedition scheduled to start on April5, 2019. The two mountain climbers will embark on a difficult expedition in order to reach Mount Everest’s highest peak at 8,848 metres above sea level, and plant a Greek flag on the ‘Roof of the World’.
Mother-of-two Vanessa Archontidou and her team mate Christina Flambouri aim to complete the Seven Summits challenge, which means climbing the highest mountains of all seven continents of the world. So far, the couple of climbers have managed to reach the peak of Aconcagua in Argentina, Elbrus in Europe, Mount Denali in North America, the Carstensz Pyramid the highest mountain in Oceania, and Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro in Africa.
Starting from Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, the two women will head to the Everest basecamp at 5,500 metres, where they will remain for at least a month to allow their bodies to adjust to the high altitude. Their expedition to climb up the mountain will start in mid-May.
Talking about what motivates them to take on the highest mountains, the two women replied: “We climb mountains because this is what makes us happy and inspires us and gives us a reason to get out of bed in the morning with excitement. Each person must search and find this reason for themselves because only then can they feel complete,” they said.
To read this article in full, please visit: Keep Talking Greece
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Monday, 25 February 2019 07:00
Stefanos Tsitsipas Lifts His Second ATP Tour Title & Makes Us Proud
Talented Greek tennis star, Stefanos Tsitsipas is on his way to the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings on Sunday, after winning against Mikhail Kukushkin at the Open 13 Provence and lifting his second ATP Tour title.
The 20-year-old Tsitsipas became the youngest Grand Slam semi-finalist since Novak Djokovic (2007 US Open) at the Australian Open last month, while following Sunday’s victory he reached a career-high No. 11 in the ATP Rankings.
"I lost the spark [after the Australian Open] and I was frustrated because it felt like I couldn't find it again," said Tsitsipas. "This week, I can say I am really happy because I felt this hunger back again... I really hope it stays the same because there are many good players out there that play for the same prize."
Following his victory at the Open 13 Provence tournament, Stefanos Tsitsipas collected 250 ATP Ranking points and €89,435 in prize money!
To this article in full, please visit: ATP Tour
Image Credit: @Stefanos Tsitsipas
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Tuesday, 05 March 2019 07:00
Farewell To Pulitzer-Winning Reuters Photographer Yannis Behrakis
Yannis Behrakis, one of Reuters’ most talented photographers, has died after a long battle with cancer. He was only 58 years old.
Behrakis covered many turbulent events around the world, such as the conflicts in Chechnya and Afghanistan, the Egyptian uprising of 2011, and a huge earthquake in Kashmir. In 2000, while covering the civil war in Sierra Leone, he narrowly survived an attack that killed 2 of his colleagues.
Yannis Behrakis led a team of Reuters photographers to the 2016 Pulitzer Prize, covering the refugee crisis. The photographer became even more famous due to a photo that became viral and that many consider to be one of his best pictures- of a Syrian refugee carrying and kissing his daughter as he walked down a road in the rain.
“My mission is to tell you the story and then you decide what you want to do, my mission is to make sure that nobody can say: ‘I didn’t know’.” – Yannis Behrakis
To read this article in full, please visit: The Guardian
Photograph: Yannis Behrakis/Reuters
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Thursday, 07 March 2019 15:15
NASA Research Scientist Becomes The First Greek Barbie Doll
In celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8 and their 60th anniversary, Mattel has created a new series of role model Barbie dolls in an effort to inspire even more girls around the globe.
Mattel is committed to promoting empowering role models as a part of their global initiative which aims to provide girls with the resources and support they need to continue believing that they can become anything they dream of.
‘Imagining she can be anything is just the beginning. Actually, seeing that she can makes all the difference.’
As a part of the #MoreRoleModels initiative, Eleni Antoniadou has become the first Greek Barbie doll. Eleni Antoniadou is a NASA researcher and one of the most notable Greek scientists in the world today. She is an expert in the fields of regenerative medicine and bioastronautics, an advocate for organ donation, an activist against illegal organ trafficking, and a firm supporter of girls in STEM. Antoniadou has been awarded with several academic distinctions and honors for her continuous efforts to connect the dot between technology policy, research and entrepreneurship!
Other role model Barbie’s include Tessa Virtue, an ice dancing champion from Canada, Patty Jenkins a filmmaker from the USA, and Iwona Blecharczyk, a professional truck driver from Poland.
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Tuesday, 12 March 2019 12:08
Plans to Uncover Athens’ Hidden River Are Underway
Athens is one of the least green cities in Europe but a local urban renewal firm hopes to change that by opening up a long-hidden river that flows through the historic heart of the capital.
In ancient times, the Ilissos River was an idyllic, winding waterway shaded by plane trees. The river was covered up during the 1930’s and a tram line was built over it.
However, the constant rumble of thousands of trams has caused structural damage to the tunnel below the tracks and consequently the tram line was shut down last October.
A team of urban planners have suggested that diverting the tram line along a different route is a more cost-efficient solution that will save millions of euros. Additionally, they are proposing the creation of a park along a one mile stretch of the formerly forgotten river. Even though project the project will take a long time to complete it has the support of the Greek government and feasibility studies are already underway.
“We are suggesting that the tunnel should not be repaired. Instead, we would uncover the river and create a pathway that would lead from the Acropolis to the Museum of Modern Art, right through the heart of the city,” said Katerina Christoforaki, an urban planner who is behind the proposed scheme. “We’ve just opened up the dialogue,” said Christoforaki. “But we think it will be completed within a decade. It’s something that we believe most Athenians would like to see.”
To read this article in full, please visit: The Telegraph
Image Source: Wikipedia
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