Wimbledon champion ripped apart as row breaks out after harsh six-word comment
Former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic has come under fire for his harsh criticism of Stefanos Tsitsipas following the latter's early departure from Wimbledon this year. The 26-year-old was forced to retire due to a back injury in the first round at SW19, while two sets down against France's Valentin Royer.
Tsitsipas, currently ranked 26th in the world, had enlisted Ivanisevic as his coach in May, hoping to gain the wisdom the Croatian had imparted to Novak Djokovic before their split in 2024. Despite bringing the 2001 Wimbledon champion on board, Tsitsipas suffered his third first-round exit in the last four Grand Slams.
Following Tsitsipas' withdrawal from Wimbledon due to injury, Ivanisevic criticised his client's preparation and harshly declared: "I'm three times fitter than him."
However, Patrick Mouratoglou, who coached Tsitsipas from 2018 to 2021, has accused Ivanisevic of failing his duties by publicly berating the player.
"Goran going to the press and criticising his player is not coaching," Mouratoglou stated in an Instagram video. "Even more, at that time, they've just started to work together, so no trust is made. You're already killing the person publicly.
"When Goran accepts the job, he knows that Stefanos probably doesn't do things the right way or things need to change, but that's the job. He arrives at a bad moment, but he knows it's a bad moment. It's not a surprise. If you look at the results of Stefanos for one year, they're not even close to what he was doing before. So he knows it's a difficult moment.
"You accept it or you don't accept it. These difficult moments can create wrong behaviours. This is what you need to bring back to good behaviours.
"In a way, it makes me feel that [Ivanisevic] is ashamed of the result and he wants to separate himself from Stefanos to say, 'It's not me, I'm good.' He is not good. That's his fault. So yeah, for a coach to see this, for me it's painful to see it."
Despite retiring in 2004, Ivanisevic reckoned that he was in better shape than Tsitsipas for his match at the All England Club. The Greek star has reached two Grand Slam finals and once held the No.3 world ranking, but Ivanisevic has argued that the player has some issues to iron out before getting his career back on track.
"It's both simple and not simple," Ivanisevic told Serbian outlet Sport Klub, as reported by TNT Sports. "I've spoken to him several times. If he resolves certain off-court issues, he'll have a chance to return to where he belongs, because he's too good to be outside the top 10.
"He says he wants to [return to the top level], but he's not doing anything. It's always 'I want, I want,' but I don't see any progress. I was shocked; I've never seen a more unprepared player in my life. With this knee, I'm three times fitter than him. It's really bad."
"It's always 'I want, I want,' but I don't see any progress. I was shocked; I've never seen a more unprepared player in my life. With this knee, I'm three times fitter than him. This is really bad."
Tsitsipas opened up about his ordeal after his underwhelming performance at Wimbledon, linking his downturn to a back injury sustained during the 2023 ATP Finals and lamenting his struggle to find a solution. "It's tough to describe. I'm battling many wars these days," an emotional Tsitsipas admitted
"Since [the 2023 ATP Finals], 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 like I'm left without answers. I don't know. I've tried everything.
"I've done an incredible job with my fitness. I've done an incredible job with my physiotherapy, so I've maximised on everything that I possibly can do. Right now, I'm just absolutely left with no answers. I don't know what to do."
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