Ever the Philosopher, Tsitsipas Looks Ahead

Greek Star Back With Father-Coach After Shakeup

By Richard Osborn

It was this time last year that Stefanos Tsitsipas was navigating a complicated intrafamily split with his coach, Apostolos, who just so happens to be his father.

“He’s not very smart or good,” said the Greek star, a dig for which he would he would later issue a public apology. Searching for the right voice, Tsitsipas would give it a go with Greece’s Davis Cup captain, Dimitris Hadjinikolaou, and earlier this summer even hired 2001 Wimbledon champ Goran Ivanisevic, though the experiment didn’t last long. Last month, mired in a rankings slump that has seen him fall to No. 30, a seven-year low, he reunited with his dad.

“It might not be something smooth that, suddenly, you see the right outcome out of being back again with my father. But that’s not really what the whole point is,” said Tsitsipas after an opening-round 7-6(3), 6-2 win over Hungary’s Fabian Morozsan. At the Cincinnati Open “It’s trying to figure out the person that cares the most about me and really wants to spend extra hours on the court perfecting me, trying to get me as good as possible. 
That’s been tricky when I stopped with him. There were a lot of things that were stopping us from working together and being quite clear on each other’s end. Miscommunication. I feel like I didn’t have enough patience anymore, as well. 
I’ve grown since then; he’s grown since then.”

Tsitsipas was always someone who could bank on his consistency. He finished inside the Top 10 in the year-end PIF ATP Rankings each year between 2019 and 2023. But since snaring the Dubai title in March, his first at the ATP 500 level, he’s been in a freefall.

“I’m hoping we can hear each other out, because I feel like a lot of the time there’s just one-way talking, and there’s one listener,” said Tsitsipas of the reestablished alignment. “I just need him to be collaborative with me. I feel like he’s capable of doing that, and that’s the reason I’m working with him today. 
That’s the reason I believe in this partnership. And it’s going to be actually on both of us to manage that partnership and make it as good as it deserves to be.”

The former world No. 3 isn’t necessarily looking to overhaul his game. Along with opening lines of communication, it might just come down to ironing out some wrinkles.

“I don’t feel like it’s anything as big as trying to change a backhand, but there are certain ways, certain habits that you build up during the tour that you’re not aware of,” he said. “I feel like the importance of a coach is also trying to recalibrate certain misalignments, mis-timings on your technique. It’s important to clean those up. 
I’m a technical player. I rely a lot on my technique. I need to have a good technique in order to hit the ball the way I like it. In order to be able to do that, I also need someone that has a good eye for it, someone that’s going to spend hours on the court trying to clean those shots up and make them as smooth and as effective as possible without overcomplicating things.”

That Tsitsipas is so willing to wax poetic on the intricacies of the father-son, coach-player relationship shouldn’t come as a surprise. The 26-year-old has long held a Socratic outlook.

“I don’t think it’s accidental that Greece is known for its philosophers,” he said with a smile. “My whole family has been always very thoughtful. For them, it was very important, knowledge and education. Regardless of whether I played tennis or not, they always wanted me to be someone that’s constantly learning. I’m in the process of educating myself on my own without their reinforcement.”

“I find a lot of meaning and depth in words, poems. 
I really enjoy quotes, wisdom, other types of things that I find. I enjoy watching movies. 
I’m a big movie guy. I look at those things as elements of art. I have a whole different appreciation for art. I have a lot of appreciation for people that do these types of things. I know I’m never going to be one of the Scorceses or Spielbergs or whatever, but I have a deep appreciation for people that can create in that way.”

Given the way his spring/summer has gone (after dropping his Monte-Carlo points, he’s a flat .500 at 7-7), he’s eager to get more court time in before he heads to Flushing Meadows for the final Grand Slam of the year. Tsitsipas is targeting a deep run here at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, followed by the Winston-Salem Open, where he’s accepted a wildcard.

“I really wanted to get as many matches under my belt as possible. It can be tricky when you are prepping for the US Open and you don’t have enough matches that you can reflect on and then see what went wrong and what went right,” he said. “
I just need feedback. I just need to go out there and play matches. I need feedback on my shape, on my shots, on my tactical part, as well. I feel like I’ve been putting a lot of attention on the technical side of things. 
My father is insisting on the technical aspect of my tennis. There are plenty of things that I need to consider and I think I’ve always been a player that feeds off matches. I need matches to feel better and to discover myself in a better way.”

Tsitsipas is guaranteed another match in the form of Benjamin Bonzi. He’s never lost to the 29-year-old Frenchman in three head-to-head meetings.