Stefanos Tsitsipas Makes ‘Dictator’ Admission After Firing Coach Goran Ivanisevic

Novak Djokovic's former coach Goran Ivanisevic won't be traveling with Stefanos Tsitsipas during the North American swing.

Stefanos Tsitsipas Makes ‘Dictator’ Admission After Firing Coach Goran Ivanisevic

Stefanos Tsitsipas, Goran Ivanisevic (Image via X/Game, Set & Talk)

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Stefanos Tsitsipas will no longer be working with Goran Ivanisevic. He took to Instagram story to announce that he has parted ways with the Croatian coach.

Ivanisevic had harshly censured the 26-year-old for his fitness issues publicly. And during an interview with SDNA, Tsitsipas appeared to have responded sharply to Ivanisevic’s criticism.

Tsitsipas, however, didn’t directly say anything against Novak Djokovic‘s former coach. He said he wants to be “comfortable” with the people he wants to work with; he always wants to have a friendly atmosphere.

Comfortable doesn’t mean that I stop training whenever I want or that I tell you how much exercise I want to do; they are the ones who have a common line, who know how hard we work and what we want to achieve through the work we put in, but also maintain a friendly atmosphere throughout it all.

The 53-year-old had called Tsitsipas an “unprepared player“. He claimed his ex-protege wants to achieve a lot, but “he doesn’t do anything“.

It is very difficult to have dictators and people who speak negatively, and you don’t feel like they are close to you, like family. Being able to build a family out of this, people who will not only work with you in the tennis part but will also be your friends after your career, is something that I really want to build.

Stefanos Tsitsipas added

Ivanisevic’s partnerships with two players following his split with Djokovic ended after a very short time of working together. After leaving the 24-time Grand Slam champion’s team in March last year, Ivanisevic joined a WTA player’s team for the first time.

It was the 2022 Wimbledon champion, Elena Rybakina. The collaboration ended right after her Australian Open exit this year. The reason behind the split is the case involving banned coach Stefano Vukov.

What’s next for Stefanos Tsitsipas?

Stefanos Tsitsipas, during that interview with SDNA, has hinted that he could re-hire his father, Apostolos Tsitsipas, as his coach. Tsitsipas ended his coaching partnership with Apostoles after a heated exchange during the Canadian Open, with the former publicly criticizing him, saying he was “really disappointed in him“.

Stefanos Tsitsipas 1
Stefanos Tsitsipas (Image via X/ESPN)

Apostolos had coached him since his childhood. Tsitsipas, while announcing the split, wrote that he wanted to keep his father “in his role as a father, and only as a father“.

Tsitsipas holds a 19-13 win-loss record this season. He produced his best when he defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime in the Dubai Open final, winning his first title since emerging victorious at the Monte Carlo Masters for the third time in his career last year.

Because of his inconsistent performances, Tsitsipas has fallen out of the top 20. The World No.29 is on the verge of dropping out of the top 30 for the first time since 2018.

He was last seen in action at Wimbledon, where, due to a back problem, he handed the walkover to Frenchman Valentin Royer. At the French Open, Tsitsipas suffered a second-round exit as he lost in four sets to Matteo Gigante.

The two-time Grand Slam finalist will next be participating in the Canadian Open. He had come close to winning the Montreal Masters in 2018 but ended up losing the final to 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal.

Last year in North America, Tsitsipas failed to go deep in the three tournaments he had played. He lost to Kei Nishikori in his opening round in Montreal, followed by his second-round defeat in Cincinnati. At the US Open, his campaign was ended by Thanasi Kokkinakis in the first round.

The last time Tsitsipas won multiple titles in a season was in 2022. He had played seven finals but could win just the Monte Carlo Masters and the Mallorcan Open.

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