Stefanos Tsitsipas dismisses rumors of rift between him and his father as he clears up his coaching situation

Stefanos Tsitsipas end his partnership with coach Mark Phillipoussis and brings back his father to his team.

Stefanos Tsitsipas dismisses rumors of rift between him and his father as he clears up his coaching situation

Stefanos Tsitsipas (L), Tsitsipas with his father (R) (Sources: Tennis365, Tennis Tonic)

Stefanos Tsitspas has announced the return of his father Apostolos Tsitsipas to his coaching team, taking a complete U-turn from his decision to replace him with former World No. 8 Mark Phillipoussis just two months ago. With this, he has now officially ended his partnership with Phillipoussis, which lasted for only two months. 

The Greek player revealed that even when his father was not officially and physically present on the team, he was always there beside him digitally. “My dad has always been next to me. Even when he was not there and people didn’t see him, he was always there by my side digitally. He’s here to stay. I have no intention of ever changing my dad or pushing him away,” he said in an interview before the Shanghai Masters.

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Talking about the buzz regarding him allegedly ‘firing’ his father, World No. 5 bluntly stated that people try and create rumors to try to destroy what you have with someone who is really close to you in any way or form. He also called his father “someone who can not be excluded.”

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Stating the main problem that Tsitsipas faced with Mark Phillipoussis’s coaching, Tsitsipas said that he could not connect with his new training methods much, which was visible in his performances. Thus, although Tsitsipas deemed him to be a remarkable coach, he decided to end their partnership.

“I wanted to try with a coach and wanted to see how that might work. It was a little bit off-tune in many ways. Not having the presence of my dad there felt like I was losing a part of my identity as a player. I wasn’t just able to adjust to the new form or ways of teaching that were applied by Mark who I admired and liked watching a lot on TV when I was younger,” Tsitsipas said. 

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Stefanos Tsitsipas’ current form 

Stefanos Tsitsipas has been suffering from a rough patch for quite some time now. Despite getting a sensational start to the season by making it to the final of the 2023 Australian Open, the Greek fell off ever since. 

Stefanos Tsitsipas (Source: CNN)
Stefanos Tsitsipas (Source: CNN)

His most noteworthy defeat came against Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinal of the French Open where he lost 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (5). It changes something in him, as after the French Open, he has not made it past the pre-quarterfinals in any tournament he participated in, apart from the Los Cabos Open, which he won. 

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