‘I’m playing better now’: Stefanos Tsitsipas on father-coach split, pressure and his tennis revival

Stefanos Tsitsipas (Getty Images) ALMATY: Stefanos Tsitsipas folded his 6ft 4′ frame onto a sofa in a busy corridor at the Almaty Open.The 28-year-old, who was once ranked world No.3 and is now ranked No.39, admitted his comeback started by letting go. Let go of the pressure, tension and expectations that weighed him down. And most importantly, to allow a father to be a father again rather than having to be both a father and a coach.Tsitsipas, who finished in the Top-10 for five consecutive years between 2019 and 2023, believes he is playing better tennis now than he did a few years ago when he reached two Grand Slam finals, at Roland Garros in 2021 and the Australian Open in 2023.The decline in form started with his body, a back problem that had plagued him for some time, compounded by a strained coaching relationship with his father, Apostolos. The combination took its toll on his confidence and by June his ranking had fallen to 88th.Just before Wimbledon, Tsitsipas told Greek media that he was definitively ending his professional relationship with his father.“I love my father and I love him as a father,” he said in Almaty. “I want to keep the professional part out of my relationship with my dad. My relationship with him is better now that he’s not my coach. It was very hard for me to separate coach and dad. I got to a point where I couldn’t avoid being triggered by it.”“We’re still in touch and I really like how things are now,” he added.This separation seems to have given Tsitsipas something he lacked, breathing space. The weight of expectation and the strain of a relationship complicated by professional demands have produced disturbing scenes at tennis tournaments around the world as the 50-year-old hurls instructions at his son, sometimes leading to heated exchanges between the two.“Removing the pressure factor helps,” he told TOI at the Almaty Open. “Before, I often felt under pressure. I had a lot of things built up inside me and certain people triggered me in a negative way. Removing some of those triggers and having people around me who keep me calm and help me be more forgiving (to myself) when things don’t work out allows me to experiment more and not be afraid to try things.”For Tsitsipas, this freedom is essential for growth.“When you feel judged, you tend to go for safe options. And safety isn’t always where growth is. You need a team that won’t judge you for what you’re doing, but will analyze and support it because it’s all part of the process.”The numbers indicate that the process is starting to pay off. In his first 16 events of the season, Tsitsipas went 16-14. He went 21-8 in 10 tournaments since Wimbledon, winning the Gstaad title in July to end a 16-month drought.Now working with Thomas Perrin and Patrick Mouratoglou overseeing the process, he believes his tennis is better than it has been in years past.“I’m playing better now than I was a few years ago,” he said.“I feel like I’m stuck in the past. Some aspects of my game weren’t structured properly and there wasn’t really a base to build on.”Since August, he has defeated Arthur Fils #11 (then ranking), Jiří Lehečka #19, Tomáš Etcheverry #30, Luciano Darderi #21 and Taylor Fritz #12.One of the most striking signs of this progress concerns his backhand. Tsitsipas, one of only three players in the top 50 to use a one-handed backhand, along with Lorenzo Musetti and Denis Shapovalov, has increasingly found opponents targeting that side of the court.“My backhand is probably even better than my forehand now. I’ve played some really good matches and used it as a real weapon on the court. Recently against (Daniil) Medvedev, I was using it to approach the net, slice, change pace and rhythm, play down the line and open up the court. It’s more variety now, whereas before it felt like one-way traffic.”Scale matters. Tsitsipas knows opponents will continue to target his backhand, but feels better equipped to react and use changes of pace, depth and direction to keep them guessing rather than letting them dictate play.For Tsitsipas, the way forward is about rediscovering the freedom to play on his own terms, with a clearer mind and a game he believes in again.