The last weeks have been “emotionally charged” for Greece: the ratification of the Prespes agreement (επικύρωση της Συμφωνίας των Πρεσπών), a Greek tennis player reaching the Australian Open semi-final and a Greek director receiving ten Oscar nominations are the highlights of the last days.

geralt via Pixabay

Στέφανος Τσιτσιπάς (Stefanos Tsitsipas) a 20 year-old tennis player (τενίστας)  is the first Greek to advance to the Australian Open semifinals (ημιτελικοί). He defeated (νίκησε) his idol Roger Federer but did not make it to the finals (τελικοί), as he was defeated (έχασε) by Roger Nadal. However, in a country where tennis is not so popular, his success is critical and will certainly motivate young people to start playing tennis.

The other start is Γιώργος Λάνθιμος  (Yorgos Lanthimos), the Greek director who became famous (διάσημος) after his film “Dogtooth” (Κυνόδοντας) won the Prix Un Certain Regard (βραβείο Ένα Κάποιο Βλέμμα) in Cannes in 2009. His latest film, “The Favourite”  (Η Ευνοούμενη) won the Grand Jury Prize (Μεγάλο Βραβείο Κριτικών) and the Volpi Cup for Best Actress (Κύπελο Βόλπι καλύτερης γυναικείας ερμηνείας) at the 75^th Venice International Film Festival (75^ο Διεθνές Φεστιβάλ Κινηματογράφου Βενετίας).  It also received 10 Academy Award nominations (δέκα υποψηφιότητες  Όσκαρ).

Did you know that:

• The Greek word for tennis is αντισφαίριση? The prefix αντι- means “counter” and σφαίριση comes from σφαίρα which means “sphere”.
• Rafael Nadal will open a tennis center (Rafa Nada Tennis Centre) in Halkidiki? The Centre will open in April 2019.
• The first non-American actress to win an Oscar was Greek? It was 1943 when Katina Paxinou(Κατίνα Παξινού), who played in the film For Whom the Bell Tolls (Για Ποιον Χτυπάει η Καμπάνα) won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress (Όσκαρ Β’ γυναικείου ρόλου).
• In the past, Yorgos Lanthimos used to direct TV commercials? Some of these commercials, such as the one on the video, were a major success!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KERsLPAC2GY