The dazzling Australian sunshine could only mean one thing. Tennis had returned and for the fourth season running, it was premiered by the United Cup in the cities of Perth and Brisbane.
A fresh start for all ahead of a season which will finish officially on November the 29th at the Davis Cup final. One man who will welcome the refresh button is Stefanos Tsitsipas. The former world number three and two time Grand Slam finalist has looked a shadow of his former self in the previous two years and will be looking to return to the hefty heights which brought him just one match away from a maiden Australian Open and world number one place.
Three years is a long time in the tennis stratosphere. The once exuberant youngster, who reached world number six at just eighteen years old, has been through a turbulent time both on and off the court and has slumped to the world number 36 spot.
Embed from Getty ImagesLast season, Tsitsipas managed just one United Cup win before playing in the Australian Open. There, he lost to Alex Michelsen at the first hurdle to round off a disastrous start to 2025.
In Dubai, he turned up with a new racket. He kept the Wilson string pattern intact; however, he was no longer playing with the Wilson blade 98 and instead opted for a blackout version of what was suspected to be the Babolat Pure Aero 98. It brought him instant success, as he won his first hard court title in two years, defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime in the final 6-3, 6-3.
He explained after the match
“Comfort is one thing that it brings to my game, and that’s one thing I’ve been trying to add to my game, and I’ve been receiving some of that extra help. I’ve spoke about how balls and courts have changed in the last couple of years, and that’s just me trying to adapt to that.”
The Greek stayed with this new setup, although its success wavered soon afterwards. In the Masters events at Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid, he failed to reach a quarter final. So, ahead of the Rome Masters, he returned to the Blade.
Needless to say, the results weren’t great either. He lost in the second round in a three-set battle with Arthur Fils, before exiting at the same stage at Roland Garros.
Embed from Getty ImagesWith the grass court season looming, Tsitsipas sacked Dimitris Chatzinikolaou to welcome former Wimbledon Champion Goran Ivanesvic as head coach. However, that partnership proved to last just two months with the Croatain saying to SportsKlub he’d ““never seen such a poorly prepared player” in his life.
He also added,
“Me, at my age and with this bad knee, I’m three times in better shape than him. I’m not sure what he was doing in the previous 12 months, but his current shape is very poor. The desire is there, but he does nothing to improve things. It’s all ‘I want it, I want it’ but I don’t see any progress.”
He then chose to return to the controversial partnership with his dad in the Summer of 2024. For context, the pair had split previously and had on court arguments during their bout. Some time after this, Tsitsipas shared a cryptic measure about “narcissistic parents” which said “The child of a narcissistic parent learns early that love is conditional. They quickly understand they’ll only be loved for what they do, not who they are. “
Rehiring him, he said “Some trips tend to go back to where they started. After a period of separation, I found the person who believed in me first, my father. I’m grateful to share the short and the road with him again.”
There is a pattern with his coaching and racket decisions. He seeks external factors to improve the situation he finds himself in but ultimately returns to what feels comfortable, even if his previous decisions show they are not conducive to success.
Embed from Getty ImagesTo pair with off court drama, Tsitipas has endured a back injury which nearly drove him to retirement. He told the BBC,
“I got really scared after the US Open loss [to Germany’s Daniel Altmaier]. I could not walk for two days. That’s when you reconsider the future of your career.”
Although after a pain free pre-season, he returned to the court this weekend with a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 win over world number 99 Shintaro Mochizuki. The Young Japanese had a well-rounded game without much real power. His backhand was reliable but the forehand lacked any real pace to hit into the backhand wing and pressurise, an element of the game the Greek struggles with. Ultimately, Tsitsipas was able to dominate with his forehand power to ensure a Greek victory.
In the coming weeks, his backhand and service return will be tested more and we’ll get to see if the necessary improvements have been made over pre-season.
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