Why did Tsitsipas fall so rapidly?

Changes in relationships in work and life cause tennis player Stefanos Tsitsipas to lose his performance.

Witnessing Tsitsipas's recent form, not many people remember that he reached the Australian Open finals earlier this year and only lost to Novak Djokovic. In the past three months, Tsitsipas's losses have come with such frequency that people no longer consider them shocks.

The Greek tennis player's only title in the past 16 months was the championship in Los Cabos in early August this year. It was thought that it would be a push for a comeback, but Tsitsipas continued to slide. After Los Cabos, he played six tournaments and failed to win two matches.

Tsitsipas was eliminated early in the third round of the Shanghai Masters

Tsitsipas is no longer at the same level as he was at the beginning of the year, and he does not shy away from that. "I'm not good enough to get good results," he said. "I don't blame anything. My opponent showed better tennis than me. I don't want to gradually become someone who is easily defeated."

Tsitsipas' failed tournaments in the past three months include Rogers Cup, Cincinnati Masters, US Open, Davis Cup, China Open and Shanghai Masters. He also had to withdraw from the Laver Cup due to injury.

Tsitsipas's decline in form came after his first major change in coaching. The collaboration with Mark Philippousis did not go as planned. Philippousis appeared on Tsitsipas's team briefly in 2022, and was hired by the Greek tennis player this year to maximize the potential of both sides. But Tsitsipas once again decided to part ways with the former Australian tennis player, and brought back his father, Mr. Apostolos.

"We were out of tune in many ways," Tsitsipas said about the teacher-student relationship with Philippousis. "Without my father there, I felt like I lost part of my identity as a tennis player. I couldn't adapt to the new communication or methods of Philippousis, who I admire and enjoy watching on TV." TV when I was young".

Tsitsipas also changed his life off the field when he dated female colleague Paula Badosa. The duo went public with their relationship ahead of Roland Garros and their careers have been on a downward spiral since then. While Badosa was constantly injured and dropped out of the top 30, Tsitsipas also gradually lost his previous form. 

Tsitsipas is dating Paula Badosa

Letting his emotions in love affect his life on the field caused Tsitsipas to lose the necessary focus in his career. A few years ago, he and Alexander Zverev were considered leaders in the Next Gen generation, but until now neither of them has won any Grand Slam. They are somewhat lagging behind the younger generation like Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner, as well as fellow tennis player Daniil Medvedev.

At the age of 25, Tsitsipas has reached the Grand Slam finals twice and lost to Novak Djokovic, but has only made it past the fourth round in five of the last 12 Grand Slams. This year, he only reached the semi-finals at one Masters tournament, falling to sixth on the ATP scoreboard after ranking third earlier in the season. The gap between Tsitsipas and the Grand Slam championship is even farther than before, when his opponents are getting stronger and he is falling back.

Tsitsipas needs to regain his form in the rest of the season to win tickets to the ATP Finals - a tournament for the eight best players of the year. He still holds a slight advantage as he is ranked sixth in the Race to Turin scoreboard, 550 points ahead of eighth place Holger Rune. To stay "on the same plate" with Alcaraz, Sinner, Rune, Medvedev or Djokovic, Tsitsipas needs to soon solve problems both on and off the court.