Stefanos Tsitsipas
Tsitsipas on dad’s ‘sustainable’ coach position: We’ve each adjusted to our wants
Stefanos Tsitsipas says he and father Apostolos have struck the precise work/life steadiness of their relationship
October 03, 2025
2025 Getty Photographs
Stefanos Tsitsipas has 22 match wins on the season.
By Paul Macpherson
Stefanos Tsitsipas finds himself in unfamiliar territory heading into this 12 months’s Rolex Shanghai Masters.
Usually right now of the 12 months the previous No. 3 within the PIF ATP Rankings could be very a lot within the hunt for a berth on the Nitto ATP Finals, an occasion he gained on debut in 2019, and at which he certified 5 straight years by means of 2023.
After a close to miss final season, the Greek appears destined to once more sit out the season finale. He’s additionally been battling a again criticism and heads into the eighth ATP Masters 1000 match of the 12 months with a modest 22-18 file on the 12 months, in accordance with the Infosys ATP Win/Loss index.
Nonetheless, the information shouldn’t be all unhealthy. The 27-year-old is hopeful that current therapy on his again will enable him to play extra freely, and he stated that his sometimes-rocky teaching relationship along with his father Apostolos is in a really well being place.
“We have now modified our dynamic very a lot and I am really very comfortable the best way all of us cooperate and work collectively now,” Tsitsipas advised ATPTour.com. “It is very refreshing as a participant to have this relationship with a father.
“It is precisely the place I wished it to be for a very long time now. And I am comfortable. He has adjusted to my wants and I’ve adjusted to his wants. And we have now each created a sort of dynamic that’s one to be happy with.”
Whereas open to including one other voice to his teaching staff, Tsitsipas stated that he has nice respect for his father’s years of expertise within the sport.
“My dad has been on the tour for lots of years, even courting again to my mom’s taking part in days. So he has a whole lot of tennis in his life,” he stated. “I am extraordinarily proud to name him my coach and my father. However to begin with, my father. Secondly, my coach.
“I undoubtedly see [our current coaching partnership] as one thing sustainable. I might have an interest sooner or later so as to add an individual in my staff that may collaborate and work with my dad. Clearly he isn’t getting youthful, so if I can discover the precise individual, he could be by my dad’s aspect just a little bit, with a transparent, brisker mindset.
“That may additionally enable my dad to possibly take a step again just a little bit to additionally take pleasure in life as a result of it is not solely tennis. And I have been reminding him and telling him this for a really very long time.”
Tsitsipas’ resolve has been examined this 12 months. After 5 High 10 finishes between 2019-2023, and a No. 11 end final 12 months, the previous World No. 3 has slipped to No. 25 within the PIF ATP Rankings.
His targets for the ultimate weeks of the season – which embrace taking part in the final week of the common season on residence soil in Athens – are measured.
“My focus could be a mix of seeing what my again permits me to do now and reconnecting just a little bit with the wins,” the two-time Grand Slam finalist stated. “High of my checklist proper now, I might undoubtedly wish to see a number of matches in a row with out again ache.”
Tsitsipas dismissed reviews that he had undergone again surgical procedure, saying {that a} hospital go to was just for “a particular kind of examination”.
“I gained’t go into particulars, nevertheless it’s one thing that did assist me quite a bit. I readjusted and glued my again. So I am simply ready to see how that responds in matches and the way I will compete in a way more wholesome state.”
Tsitsipas, who has performed simply two Davis Cup matches [in Athens] for the reason that US Open, stated that he feels contemporary and recharged following trip time in Greece, the place he visited museums and historic websites such because the Athens Acropolis Museum, the Temple of Apollo and the Nationwide Gardens. He additionally practised thrice with Novak Djokovic.
“Attending to know Novak in a deeper means was good as a result of on the Tour, you do not have that chance,” Tsitsipas stated. “And I spent a whole lot of time connecting with my spirit in Greece. I really had a good time exploring my very own nation and doing issues I discovered spiritually fulfilling.
“I did undoubtedly want that break. I solely realised that after I was there. I spent a whole lot of time with my little sister, my brother Petros, who I all the time see on the courtroom taking part in doubles with him. That’s one thing that I lack just a little bit in my day by day life, just a little little bit of humanity, particularly once you’re consistently pressured and chasing factors, tournaments, all that. It is essential typically to take a break and reconnect together with your humanity.”
Tsitsipas, who defeated Djokovic in Shanghai in 2019 en path to his greatest semi-final end on the occasion, opens his marketing campaign Saturday in opposition to Portugal’s Nuno Borges.
