Stefanos Tsitsipas has dedicated his first Grand Slam final appearance to his grandmother, who sadly died five minutes before his match against Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros on Sunday.

The 22-year-old Greek took a two-set lead in the final, but ultimately went on to lose the match in five sets to the Serb.

Following the match, however, the new world number four shared a post on his Instagram account, saying: “Life isn’t about winning and losing. Five minutes before entering the court my very beloved grandmother lost her battle with life.

"A wise woman whose faith in life, and willingness to give and provide can't be compared to any other human being that I have ever met.

"It's important to have more people like her in this world. Because people like her make you come alive. They make you dream."

After his emotional message, the young tennis star received plenty of support.

Djokovic commented underneath with a sad face emoji, several praying hands and a love heart.

The youngest female tennis player ranked in the top 100 Cori Gauff, meanwhile, said: “So sorry for your loss. I know she was watching and so happy for you because you fought so hard today and it was so inspiring and incredibly to see.”

In addition, Tsitsipas’s mentor Patrick Mouratoglou said: “We are so proud of everything you are achieving Stef.”

Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian said: “All love. Only the start, dude. She’s proud of you today and everyday.”

This is indeed yet another reason why Tsitsipas deserves enormous credit for producing the performance that he did, as he threatened to alter the usual script of ‘next-gen’ players falling short against some of sport's greatest icons.

After his latest Grand Slam success, Djokovic now moves on to 19 titles, just one behind Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. The world number one also became the first man in the Open era to win each Grand Slam twice.

You did her proud, Stefanos.