(Video) Stefanos Tsitsipas Ignores Father and Coach Apostolos’ Low-Five During United Cup

Stefanos Tsitsipas rehired his father, Apostolos Tsitsipas, as his coach after ending his partnership with Goran Ivanisevic.

(Video) Stefanos Tsitsipas Ignores Father and Coach Apostolos’ Low-Five During United Cup

Stefanos Tsitsipas ignores his father Apostolos Tsitsipas (Image via X/As Mas Deporte, Jose Morgado, Jess)

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Stefanos Tsitsipas featured in his first singles match in almost four months. In the ongoing United Cup, the Greek ace went past Japan’s Shintaro Mochizuki 6-3, 6-3.

When the 27-year-old won the first set, he went toward his bench where his father, Apostolos Tsitsipas, stood and was ready to give him a low-five. But Tsitsipas simply ignored him and sat on the bench, though it’s not clear whether he did it inadvertently or not.

Here’s the video of the incident:

At the United Cup, prior to his win over Mochizuki, Tsitsipas’ compatriot and WTA ace Maria Sakkari went past four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka to give Greece a 1-0 lead. Then the pair of Tsitsipas and Sakkari registered another win against the pair of Nao Hibino and Yasutaka Uchiyama.

Greece is placed in Group E alongside Japan and Great Britain. The former team will next be locking horns with Great Britain, led by 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu.

In 2024, during a Canadian Open match, Tsitsipas yelled at Apostolos, following which, he ended his professional relationship with him. Last year, the three-time Grand Slam finalist hired Novak Djokovic‘s former coach, Goran Ivanisevic, but the partnership did not last for long.

Tsitsipas reportedly was not happy with Ivanisevic questioning his work ethic during interviews. And in one interview, after the split, without naming anyone, Tsitsipas said, “It’s very hard to be around dictators and people who speak negatively and don’t feel like family“.

After the split with Elena Rybakina‘s former coach, Tsitsipas rehired Apostolos as his coach. In the pre-tournament press conference at the United Cup, Tsitsipas revealed that the “biggest issue” between him and his father in the past was that both are “two strong personalities, and we want to express our opinions. Sometimes they don’t really co-align.”

Apostolos guided Tsitsipas to the No.3 ranking as well as to three Grand Slam finals. Tsitsipas also won the 2019 ATP Finals under the guidance of his father.

Stefanos Tsitsipas thanks his doctor after his United Cup match win

The match against Shintaro Mochizuki was Stefanos Tsitsipas‘ first win since the 2025 US Open first-round match. Tsitsipas, following his second-round defeat in the New York Slam, missed the rest of the season because of lingering back issues.

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

He also contemplated hanging up his racket following the heartbreaking five-set defeat to an unseeded Daniel Altmaier. At the press conference following his win over Mochizuki, Tsitsipas thanked his doctor.

I don’t have any complaints so far. Nothing that bothers me, actually. I would expect it to be fine tomorrow. I have a lot of faith in the doctor who treated me. He’s considered one of the best. I am really thankful that he had the opportunity to see me and help me out because my situation was quite urgent. There were a lot of things on the line for me. I had to clear those things out.

Tsitsipas had a disappointing 2025 season. All he won was one title- the Dubai Open, by defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime. In the Masters 1000s, Tsitsipas reached just one quarterfinal- at the Monte Carlo Masters, where he was playing as the defending champion.

The goal of 2026 is to be playing best-of-five matches, hopefully not too often, but if they’re needed, I will have to stay on court until five sets, and to be able to come back fresh the next day and have a hit, just like any other player.

Stefanos Tsitsipas added

In Grand Slam events last year, Tsitsipas failed to progress beyond the second round, reaching the stage at the French Open and the US Open. At the Australian Open and Wimbledon, he suffered first-round exits. Because of these performances, Tsitsipas dropped out of the top 30 and currently occupies the 36th position on the rankings table.

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