Stéfanos Tsitsipás has ended his collaboration with coach Goran Ivanisevic after less than two months. The Greek wanted to return to the world top with the help of Novak Djokovic’s former coach, but the collaboration was a disappointment.
“Working with Goran Ivanisevic was a short but intense experience and a very valuable chapter in my journey,” Tsitsipás wrote on Instagram on Wednesday.
The former world number three appointed Ivanisevic as coach in May. After a series of disappointing results, he hoped to find his way up with the former Wimbledon winner, but it didn’t work out.
At Wimbledon, Tsitsipás did not progress beyond the first round, after which his coach sharply criticized his pupil. “I have never in my life seen a player in such bad physical condition. With my knee I am three times fitter than he is. It is really serious,” said the 53-year-old Ivanisevic then.
Tsitsipás does not address Ivanisevic’s remarkable statements in his Instagram message, but he does at the Greek sports site SDNA. “It is difficult to work with dictators who talk badly about you and are not close to me or my environment,” says Tsitsipás.
Tsitsipás returns to his father
The 26-year-old Tsitsipás wants a reliable team around him. “A kind of family, who I can also count on when my career is over.”
In the same interview, the world number 29 announces that he will be working with his father Apostolos Tsitsipás again. He was also his coach between 2001 and 2024.
Tsitsipás reached the final of Roland Garros four years ago, as well as the Australian Open in 2023. He is still waiting for his first Grand Slam title.