Stefanos Tsitsipas Reveals What Stopped Him from Retiring Amid Injury Woes

Stefanos Tsitsipas, ahead of kick-starting his Indian Wells campaign, revealed in an interview why, despite setbacks, he is continuing to play tennis. The Greek ace suffered an early-round exit for the fifth time this year.

At Indian Wells, Canada’s Denis Shapovalov knocked him out in the first round. Prior to the first Masters 1000 of the season, Tsitsipas lost to Ugo Humbert in the opening round of the Dubai Tennis Championships. The only time he made a deep run this year was at the Qatar Open, where, after making the quarterfinals, he lost to defending champion Andrey Rublev.

Last year, his chronic back injury forced him to skip the remainder of the season following his exit at the US Open, where he lost to Daniel Altmaier in the second round. The pain was so unbearable that he started to contemplate whether to continue or not after months of playing through injury.

I asked myself, ‘What am I doing here? What do I do with my career?’

Stefanos Tsitsipas told Anna Chakvetadze on Russian media First&Red

Tsitsipas is a two-time Grand Slam finalist, reaching the stage at the 2021 French Open and the 2023 Australian Open, losing both to Novak Djokovic. The 27-year-old said if he didn’t believe in his abilities to win a Major, he would have already hung up his racket.

If I didn’t believe I could win a Grand Slam, I would have already stopped playing.

Stefanos Tsitsipas added

Tsitsipas has yet to make a deep run in the Majors since the 2024 French Open. Last year, he suffered first-round exits at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, while in Paris and New York, he lost in the second round. In this year’s Australian Open, his campaign ended in the second round with a four-set defeat to Tomas Machac.

Stefanos Tsitsipas clarifies his comment about the South American swing

Recently, during an interview, Stefanos Tsitsipas explained why he always chooses the Middle East Swing over the Golden Swing in South America. He said the events in the Middle East offer more money than those events held in Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, and Santiago.

His comment received mixed reactions, and Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo was one of the critics. Tsitsipas then took to Instagram story to clarify his comments.

Over the last days, I’ve seen a lot of discussion around comments I made about scheduling tournaments and appearance fees, so I want to clarify things in a simple and honest way. First of all, I truly enjoy playing in South America. The passion of the fans there is special, and I have a lot of respect for the tournaments and the culture around tennis in that region. My comments were never a complaint and never meant as criticism.

Tsitsipas, however, did not rule out the possibility of playing in South America in the future. In the Middle East Swing, although the 27-year-old has yet reach the Qatar Open final, he has made the final in Dubai three times, losing to Roger Federer in 2019, to Novak Djokovic the following year. Last year, he won the title by beating Felix Auger-Aliassime.

On the ATP Tour, players outside of prize money have very limited ways to support their careers financially. The reality is that ATP 250 and ATP 500 events are often the only opportunities where appearance fees exist. Because of that, scheduling decisions are sometimes influenced by those factors. This is not unique to me. It is a standard model followed by many players, especially those competing at the top level. I was simply answering a question about why my calendar sometimes looks the way it does.

Stefanos Tsitsipas added

Tsitsipas, a former World No.3, is on the verge of dropping out of the top 50. He currently stands in the 43rd spot.

Also read: Jannik Sinner Shows Confidence in ATP to Ensure Safety for Tennis Players Amid Iran War

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