Stefanos Tsitsipas admits tennis future is unclear as he struggles with anxiety and fitness issues
The Greek former top-three player sounded excited about hiring former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic as his coach, and believes the Croatian legend can help him fix various technical issues with his game.
Tsitsipas added though that he was acutely aware that was not going to be enough.
The 26-year-old admitted he had work to do in order to 'recalibrate my mental state' and that it was on him to find solutions for his current psychological woes.
'The last couple of years, especially the last two years, I feel like I have been very stressed and anxious and I only realised that now that all of this is really adding to me and it just doesn't feel like me when I'm out on the court,' Tsitsipas revealed on Saturday.
'So I just need to manage the stress better. It's something that will pop up, something that might happen again, but I need to manage those stressful moments.
'I need to manage moments of uncertainty and figure it out on my own. I don't want to have external stuff that are causing those types of things.
'So I need to soulfully be focused on my own individuality, my own self, and let anything outside not allow any of this to distract me.'
Tsitsipas did not explicitly say what those external pressures or distractions may be, but his issues with his father, Apostolos, have been well-documented during the years he served as his coach.
Tsitsipas has also previously complained that he felt his parents were 'too involved' in his life and he has felt the responsibility of taking care of his whole family from a young age – even making it a mission to play doubles with one of his brothers, Petros, in order to help him get into the top 100.
Tsitsipas ended his coaching partnership with Apostolos on more than one occasion, most recently last August, in an effort to focus on their father-son relationship.
He has had mostly lacklustre results since, barring a surprise run to the Dubai title in February, in what was his first tournament using a new racquet.
When asked if he could pinpoint the source of his anxiety, Tsitsipas said: 'Well, my life is … I feel like not just my life, I feel like most players' life is chaotic, having to travel from place to place and then switching time zones and going from one place to the other.
'Doing this for so many years, I think it's quite normal that at some point you're going to reach a place of burnout or a place where you feel like you've had enough.
'But literally, you can't do anything about that because the nature of the sport itself is to repeatedly go one tournament after the other.
'I'm a player that has been playing the most amount of tournaments, the most amount of matches, I think. For three or four years, I was the player on the tour that had the most amount of wins in a single season.
'And there comes a moment, me and Goran spoke about it, there comes a moment where you pay the price and you can't have everything in life.
'Of course, it was great at the time. But internally, you're not aligned and you're not in peace with yourself.
'You're always chasing, you're always going after things. And sometimes when you end up also being surrounded by people that demand too much from you and you feel like you're responsible for not just yourself but for other people too … it creates this inner pressure, this inner anxiety that keeps increasing week after week. So it doesn't really help you with the tennis either.
'You feel like you're battling two worlds at the same time.'
Two days later, Tsitsipas retired from his Wimbledon opening round against French qualifier Valentin Royer with a lower-back injury that has been bothering him on and off since the end of 2023.
The Greek is a two-time Grand Slam finalist, but hasn't made it past the second round in any of his last five majors and is currently down to No 26 in the world rankings.
After this latest setback on Monday, Tsitsipas once again shared some worrying thoughts with the media. This time about his physical state.
'I'm battling many wars these days. It's really painful to see myself in a situation like this,' said Tsitsipas.
'One thing that I absolutely hate doing is retiring or stopping a match, but I've never pictured myself being in a situation like this multiple times since the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin a couple of years back.
'Since that time, I've been very fragile with my body, and I've been battling a war of feeling healthy and feeling comfortable going to the extremes, which has been a difficult battle. So I really don't know.
'I feel completely … I feel like I'm left without answers.'
Tsitsipas explained that the problem is in the lower left side of his back and it limits his ability to rotate his body while playing.
'It's probably the most difficult situation that I've ever been faced with, because it's an ongoing issue that doesn't seem to be disappearing or fading off as much,' he added.
'Myself, as a person, I have a limit at some point, so I'll definitely have to have my final answer on whether I want to do stuff or not in the next couple of months.
'This is going to be hard, but if I see it going in that trajectory, there is no point at competing. If I'm not healthy, and I've talked about health so many times, if health is not there, then your whole tennis life becomes miserable.'
In the Greek portion of his press conference, Tsitsipas was clearer about his future in the sport, saying he'll give it one more year before making a final decision.
'If this develops into something that doesn't let me finish matches, I get my answer there. I mean I won't play tennis again for good,' he told SDNA.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
an hour ago
- The National
Iker Casillas on Saudi Arabia's rise in global football and Real Madrid's future under Xabi Alonso
Former Spain goalkeeper reflects on the Middle East's rising influence in the beautiful game, crediting stars like Ronaldo for opening new horizons
The National
8 hours ago
- The National
What Ons Jabeur's 'disconnect' from tennis will mean for Arab sport
Many tennis fans, particularly in the Arab world, were heartbroken the opening day of Wimbledon, when Ons Jabeur, one of the sport's top female athletes, was forced to retire early from her first-round match on Monday against Viktoriya Tomova. It was more than a step away from the court. The 30-year-old Tunisian, who initially paused the match for a medical timeout before exiting altogether, told The National that the moment is likely to be the start of a 'disconnect' from tennis altogether, as she grapples with recovering from a tough season that was marred by injuries sustained last year. The injuries have taken their toll. Three years ago, Jabeur was ranked world No 2, having reached two consecutive Wimbledon finals. She has since slid to No 59. But she remains the first Arab player, male or female, to ever break into tennis's global top 10. As a Tunisian, moreover, Jabeur has inspired not just the Arab world, but the entire African continent, too. In a sport known for its atmosphere of silence – 'Quiet, please' is something of an unofficial slogan for Wimbledon – Jabeur stands out as an outspoken voice. Her accolades have also brought with them an obligation – in the eyes of her fans, the media and even Jabeur herself – to stand up against injustice, in politics and sport alike. Ahead of her Monday match, Jabeur, who is also a goodwill ambassador for the World Food Programme, told The National that she takes this responsibility seriously. 'It's true, it's a burden, but it would be 10 times worse if I keep it inside,' she said. The Gaza war, in particular, has been a source of anguish. Athletes have been under immense pressure to refrain from speaking out about the conflict and the suffering of Palestinian civilians, and Jabeur, especially, as an Arab athlete, has faced added scrutiny for her views on the subject. But she has not been deterred. She made a tearful plea for peace during an interview on the court at the WTA Finals in Cancun in November 2023 and has continued to raise awareness about the plight of Palestinians ever since. In a sport known for its atmosphere of silence, Jabeur is an outspoken voice She has also been a strong advocate for women in sport. Last month, she made headlines taking the organisers of the French Open to task over their relegation of women's matches away from prime-time broadcasting slots, presumably because women's tennis is not as popular among audiences as the men's game. But Jabeur's argument, which is the correct one, is that the relative lack of attention for female athletes is not the symptom – it is part of the problem. She suffered considerable backlash and abuse as a result. Jabeur's reply, which she published on her social media channels, was powerful. 'A lot of amazing athletes have been told the same things over and over,' she wrote. 'That no one watches, that no one cares. That women's sport doesn't 'move people'.' But the women's game, Jabeur goes on to write, 'has been writing its own legacy loudly, brilliantly and, for far too long, without full recognition'. Whatever the duration or extent of Jabeur's 'disconnect' from tennis, there is little doubt that she has been one of the authors of that legacy, pushing the boundaries for not just Arab and African athletes, or female athletes, but for the sport as a whole. Her many fans are wishing her well and hope to see her in top form, on the court or off it, soon.
Khaleej Times
18 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
Tearful former champion Kvitova loses on Wimbledon farewell
Petra Kvitova's Wimbledon farewell ended in an emotional defeat as the two-time champion was beaten 6-3, 6-1 by Emma Navarro in the first round on Tuesday. Kvitova returned from maternity leave in February following the birth of her son Petr in 2024, but found it difficult to handle the demands of being a mother on the gruelling tennis circuit. The 35-year-old Czech announced last week that she will bring the curtain down on her career after the US Open in August. Kvitova's decision gave the former world number two, who has won 31 titles in her career, one last opportunity to return to the scene of her Wimbledon triumphs. But American 10th seed Navarro ruined her hopes of a long Wimbledon goodbye with a clinical 60-minute victory on Court One. Kvitova could not hold back the tears when she was given a standing ovation by the crowd, responding with a wave before drying her eyes. "It's very special to play on this beautiful court one more time. I wish I could play a little bit longer but it's OK, whatever" she said as more tears flowed. "This place holds the best memories I could wish for. I never dreamt of winning Wimbledon. "I will miss Wimbledon for sure, I will miss tennis but I'm ready for the next chapter as well. "I can't wait to be back here as a member. Thank you very much Wimbledon." A raw 21-year-old when she stunned Maria Sharapova to win the 2011 Wimbledon final, three years later Kvitova returned to the All England Club title match to rout Eugenie Bouchard 6-3, 6-0. Now ranked 572, Kvitova has lost eight of her nine matches since becoming a parent. But she says Wimbledon means "everything to me", an emotional connection forged not just in her tennis triumphs but also because her engagement to her coach Jiri Vanek took place on Centre Court in 2022. She rolled back the years at the start of the first set, racing into a 3-1 lead with a series of blistering winners. But the left-hander is no longer the force of old and she lost five games in a row with a host of unforced errors as Navarro took the set. By the time Kvitova lost the first two games of the second set, her fate was almost sealed. She managed one last echo of yesteryear, holding serve in the third game and celebrating with a clenched fist. That show of defiance was Kvitova's final fling as a double-fault finished her All England Club career. She bowed out with a kiss to her family in the players' box before leaving the Wimbledon stage for the last time.
