There is no reason that Stefanos Tsitsipas cannot be a consistently high performer on the ATP tour. He moves around the court well – no matter the surface – and he does not have a true weakness. Still, he has not ever won a Grand Slam and he has only won one title in each of the last two seasons.
The Greek player also has a history of fading in the second halves of years, especially in terms of Grand Slam success. The Australian Open is a hard-court event and Tsitsipas has made the semifinals three times and the final once. At the French Open, he has reached at least the quarterfinals four times and one final.
After late May’s event at Roland Garros, though, Tsitsipas fails worse with each proceeding major. At Wimbledon, his win percentage is 57 percent (compared to 77 and 76, respectively, in Melbourne and Paris), and his best showing was getting to the fourth round. At the US Open – a hard court tournament like the Australian Open – his best is the third round, which he made in 2020 and 2021.
One might ask if Tsitsipas is better prepared for the beginning of a calendar year because he has had some rest before each season. Once the year begins, maybe he doesn’t work as hard. To be sure, that is not a known fact, but according to his former fitness coach, Christos Fiotakis, that is the implication.
Fiotakis and Tsitsipas split after the French Open. Normally when a team member and a player part ways there are some nice, amicable words. Not in this case. Fiotakis questioned Tsitsipas’ will to win and willingness to want to be a great player. The fitness coach appeared to say he was quitting Tsitsipas in hopes of working with players who had more drive than Tsitsipas.
Fiotakis told Greek website SDNA, “…we got Stefanos back on his feet, back to being a healthy athlete and competing at a high level after his injury. Beyond that, there are some things that are out of my control. The team atmosphere doesn’t match my energy and, unfortunately, we have other priorities. I wish him, however, the best, that he may always be healthy.”
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That all sounds pleasant. Maybe the fitness coach and the player did not see eye-to-eye on ultimate goals. The issue was that Fiotakis did not stop there. He added, “…we have other priorities and I am not satisfied with Stefanos’ work ethic. Right now, I don’t think his ultimate focus is on playing tennis and getting to the top of the rankings or winning Grand Slams.”
Ouch. For someone formerly so close to Tsitsipas to call him out over his need to win tennis tournaments, maybe there is some truth to what Fiotakis was saying. Quite likely, a lot of truth.