Stefanos Tsitsipas wishes he had appointed Goran Ivanisevic as his coach “three or four years ago”

Stefanos Tsitsipas retired from his first-round match at the Wimbledon Championship after struggling with a back issue.

Stefanos Tsitsipas wishes he had appointed Goran Ivanisevic as his coach “three or four years ago”

Stefanos Tsitsipas and Goran Ivanisevic (via X/The Tennis Letter/BBC)

Stefanos Tsitsipas has had a turbulent season so far, but since the announcement of his partnership with Novak Djokovic’s ex-coach Goran Ivanisevic, there has been optimism that he will bounce back. He has revealed that he wished he had collaborated with the legendary coach three or four years ago.

Tsitsipas’s first collaboration was with his father, Apostolos Tsitsipas, and the pair partnered right from his childhood until August 2024. The Greek star reached a career-high ranking of World No.3 on tour and was lauded to be the leader of his generation. But, since 2023, his career has taken a downward turn.

Currently ranked 26th in the World, his lowest since 2018, he sees a glimpse of hope with Ivanisevic as his coach. However, the 26-year-old has won one title this season and that was at the Dubai Championships in February, but since then has endured a disappointing run by his standards which has seen him drop from the top 10.

In fact, he currently holds a 19-12 win-loss record so far in 2025, which is the lowest win rate he has registered in any season since his breakthrough as an ATP Tour regular in 2018. He appointed Ivanisevic as his new coach at the start of the grass-court season just after his shocking second-round exit at the French Open.

Ivanisevic is an experienced coach, having partnered with Grand Slam champions Novak Djokovic, Marin Cilic, and Elena Rybakina in the past. At the Wimbledon Championship, Tsitsipas revealed that he wished he had hired Ivanisevic as his coach three or four years ago. He added that the work he’s doing with the Croatian coach will surely bear fruit:

Goran and I aspire to achieve great things together. I know I am not perfect, but he is helping me see why things have not been working for a while and what I can do to improve. I should have hired him three or four years ago; I feel like I have wasted time sticking to the same methods, not evolving as a player. The work we are doing will soon start to bear fruit; we do not have specific expectations. I know he respects me, values me, and cares about what I do; I see it in his eyes and how he speaks to me.

Ivanisevic first became famous after helping Marin Cilic claim his first and only Grand Slam at the 2014 US Open. Four years later, he joined Djokovic’s team and became the Serbian legend’s coach for eight years, leading him to win 12 Grand Slams before they parted ways in March 2024.

Stefanos Tsitsipas retires from his first-round match at Wimbledon

Stefanos Tsitsipas was forced to retire during his Wimbledon opening match due to a back injury. The Greek star was down 3-6, 2-6 against French qualifier Valentin Royer, leaving the 24-year-old to advance to the second round of the Wimbledon Championship.

Stefanos Tsitsipas Wimbledon
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Valentin Royer (via ATP)

Tsitsipas received a medical timeout in the second set due to a back issue. The former World No.3 struggled with the discomfort during the one-hour and 14-minutes match, struggling with his movement and serve, making just 43 per cent of his first deliveries.

The back problem was not a surprise as Jannik Sinner’s coach Darren Cahill revealed that the Greek star had struggled with his back when practicing with the Italian at Wimbledon. The loss now leaves Tsitsipas with a 19-13 win-loss record this season. He’s also set to drop further in the ranking by next Monday.

However, he’s the second top player to lose on the opening day at Wimbledon as Daniil Medvedev crashed out of the event earlier. Meanwhile, Royer was competing in just his second main-draw match at a Grand Slam, having lost in the opening round at Roland Garros last month. The Frenchman is currently World No.99 in the ATP and he will face his fellow compatriot Adriano Mannarino in the second round.

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