LONDON — Devastated, Stefanos Tsitsipas expressed all his pain after another setback in his career — and he’s not ruling out stepping away from competition entirely.
“If I see this is going on the same direction, there is no point of competing,” said the Greek to the media in Wimbledon, visibly having a hard time after retiring from his first-round match.
The former world No. 3 pulled out while losing 6-3, 6-2 to Frenchman Valentin Royer, ranked 113th. In his press conference, Tsitsipas was honest about his condition and future, casting doubt over his professional career: “If you’re not healthy, then your whole tennis life becomes miserable.”
“As a person, I have a limit. I will definitely have to make a final decision of whether I want to keep going or not in the next few months”, he said.
“I’ve been through a lot of battles lately, and it’s very painful to see myself in this kind of situation. One of the things I hate the most is retiring or pulling out of a match. I never imagined myself being in that situation so many times since the ATP Finals in Turin a couple of years ago. Since then, I’ve been physically very fragile. It’s been a constant struggle to feel healthy and comfortable going to the limit, and it’s been a difficult battle.”
The 2023 Australian Open and 2021 Roland Garros finalist is dealing with a lingering injury on the left side of his lower back.
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“I feel like I’ve tried everything. I’ve done incredible work with my fitness. I’ve done incredible work with my physio. I’ve tried to take the most out of everything I could possibly do, and I just don’t have any answers right now. I don’t know what to do.”
“I feel like it’s an injury that can be very delicate, because everything in tennis is rotational. If you’re not able to rotate, you can’t play. It’s a persisting problem that doesn’t seem to go away or get better.”
In the middle of the emotional weight, Tsitsipas managed a faint smile when talking about his new coach — Croatian Goran Ivanisevic, who joined his team during the grass swing.
“Goran is great. We’re having a great time together. I’m very disappointed I wasn’t able to show my potential, that I wasn’t able to play the way I deserve to play. It’s not easy. I feel like even if he gives me all the confidence in the world, if I don’t feel good, if I’m not comfortable with my body, I can’t show anything.”
Tsitsipas ruled out surgery, saying the damage is already done. He pointed to the post–US Open 2024 period as a key moment for his physical problems:
“That’s when it all started. It shows how demanding the Tour can be on the body.”
