Stefanos Tsitsipas is not having a great time lately. Firstly, it is his consecutive early-round defeats starting from the Canada Open in August, which continued till the US Open! Then came another blow as he withdrew from the Davis Cup due to a back injury, stating, “The voice of my heart advised me to strengthen the National Team once again. However, the voice of my body, in an imperative manner, forbids me to compete in the meeting with Serbia for the Davis Cup.” And now, after finishing his Laver Cup duties, where he contributed to the victory of Team Europe, the Greek tried to revive himself in the Asian swing! However, it seems apart from the unfortunate results, there was one more trouble interfering with his fate on-court!
Stefanos Tsitsipas failed to surpass Alex Michelsen in his opening round in the Japan Open, finishing it with a score of 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. However, that was not the only troublesome highlight of the match. Even during the clash, he called for medical help in the last round and took a break. An X post revealed Tsitsipas taking a break during the match, sitting on a bench with his head resting on his hand. As per reports, the World No. 12 suffered from a heat stroke (as it was 28-29 degrees in Tokyo), after which his blood pressure and O2 saturation were checked. However, he went on with this performance, but his stuttering form ultimately led to his defeat.
A month ago, when he suffered a similar fate against Thanasi Kokkinakis (whom he later defeated during his Laver Cup opening round match) Tsitsipas openly admitted that his slump in performance was due to a “long-term burnout.” Moreover, he confessed, “What I’m struggling with right now is getting into that rhythm of wins and consistent good runs in Masters 1000s and big tournaments, those moments I had two or three years ago.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas, who started the 2024 season on a firm note, won the Monte Carlo Masters and even qualified for the Barcelona Open finals, has not qualified for another final round since then. Besides, he also relieved his father, Apostolos, of his coaching duties after his second-round defeat in the National Bank Open in Montreal.
However, even after that, Tsitsipas, who now works with the coach Dimitris Hadjinikolaou (whom he has known since childhood), has yet to find his form. But per Tsitsipas, this feeling of “burn-out” is not new, as he has been feeling it since the start of the year and he understands that it is not going to go away even “if you stop or not.” In the same US Open press conference, the 26-year-old also reflected on the change that he is going through and compared his usual charm on-court!
“I’m nothing compared to the player I was before,” says Stefanos Tsitsipas, reflecting on his current form
The former World No. 3, Stefanos Tsitsipas is now out of the top 10 rankings in the world. This is in complete contrast to his results in 2019, where he won the ATP Finals, or in the 2021 French Open and the 2023 Australian Open, where he was a runner-up (losing to Novak Djokovic both times) in the events. So, the question is: What is he missing now?
Talking about this in the press conference in New York, Stefanos Tsitsipas said, “I’m nothing compared to the player I was before. I remember myself playing when I was younger, playing with adrenaline on the court, feeling like my life depends on the match…” He further reflected on his lack of consistency and added how he had more concentration and “hunger” to achieve more. However, he is hopeful to “regenerate” it back and enjoy his matches on-court. Furthermore, he also added, “I really don’t know why it has dropped the last couple of months. I would even consider it like one to two years I’ve been feeling that way..” With another shocking loss in a tournament and suffering an injury, will Stefanos Tsitsipas be able to bounce back and emerge stronger? Only time will tell!
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