A move undertaken in May last year in hopes of reviving Stefanos Tsitsipas’ season unfolded in a rather drastic manner. At the time, no one could have guessed that Goran Ivanišević wouldn’t even last two months. The cracks became evident after Wimbledon 2025, as Ivanišević had slammed the Greek for being highly underprepared. And though Tsitsipas remained mum for nearly a year, that silence has now been broken.
“I didn’t see any point in it. If it was a way of him pushing me into working harder and getting my s— together, it was definitely not the right tactic. I was really hurt,” Tsitsipas told The Times. “I never expected that a coach could do that to me, and the worst thing is that what he said was not true. I was not fit because I had been injured. I hadn’t been practicing properly for over two weeks. It was like he kicked me when I was already down.”
Back in July 2025, Ivanišević said that the 27-year-old wasn’t really making any progress and also called him out for being out of shape. These comments came after the Greek’s first-round retirement against Valentin Royer due to a back injury. The same injury became so severe that it left Tsitsipas seriously contemplating stepping away from the sport after he was unable to walk for two days and was deeply uncertain about his future on tour.
“He wants to, but he doesn’t do anything. All ‘I want, I want,’ but I don’t see any progress. I was shocked. I’ve never seen a more unprepared player in my life. With this knee, I’m three times more prepared than him. This is really bad,” he had told Sport Klub.
Stefanos Tsitsipas on Goran Ivanisevic calling him the most ‘poorly prepared player’ he’d ever seen & claiming that he was in 3 times better shape than him
“I didn’t see any point in it. If it was a way of him pushing me into working harder and getting my shit together, it was… pic.twitter.com/EgUJP9aMv6
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) April 4, 2026
Tsitsipas had then decided to part ways with Ivanišević later in the same month. The 2001 Wimbledon champion had recently broken his silence on the split, stating that he had realized that the partnership wouldn’t work after just two days. He had also heaped praise on Tsitsipas’ ability but had remarked that he wouldn’t be able to compete without being mentally prepared in today’s day and age.
“I knew after the second day of training. When he came to Zagreb to try rackets, I knew that nothing came of it. In the end, I didn’t say anything bad; everything I stated was true and proved to be so,” Ivanišević said in an interview with Sport Klub on March 27.
“I told him nicely after Wimbledon to take four months off because it’s not just physical unpreparedness, but also mental unpreparedness. He remains a phenomenal player. He was and still is, but those are just details. In today’s tennis, you can’t compete without being mentally prepared,” he added.
After parting ways with Ivanišević, Tsitsipas had decided to reunite with his father, Apostolos Tsitsipas. However, this appointment hasn’t quite gone as planned.
Stefanos Tsitsipas continues to struggle under his father’s guidance
Notably, the Greek has only made it to the quarterfinals on one occasion ever since appointing his father as coach last year. This appearance came at the 2026 Qatar Open, where he had put in a brilliant performance and had even defeated Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-4 in the Round of 16. However, Andrey Rublev handed the 27-year-old a 3-6, 6-7 defeat to knock him out of the tournament.
The former World No. 3 will be desperately looking to improve his form as he enters the clay-court season with the Monte Carlo Masters, which is set to be played from April 5 to 12. He is scheduled to take on Francisco Cerundolo in the opening round of the competition.
However, this won’t be all, as he will also be competing in doubles alongside his brother, Pavlos Tsitsipas. They are set to lock horns against the duo of Manuel Guinard and Guido Andreozzi in the Round of 32.
Do you think Tsitsipas will be able to finally rediscover his form on clay, or will his ranking continue to plummet further under his father’s coaching?
