Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas believes he is at a stage of his career where one coach is enough for him as he sheds light on the latest change to his team.
Earlier this week, the world No.5 confirmed that he is no longer working alongside Mark Philippoussis who had been his co-coach since the conclusion of last year’s Wimbledon Championships. One of the highlights of their partnership occurred in January at the Australian Open where Tsitsipas reached the final before losing to Novak Djokovic. Philippoussis, who is half-Greek, is a former top 10 player and two-time Grand Slam runner-up.
So what went wrong? According to Tsitsipas, the ‘mutual decision’ was spearheaded by his desire to streamline his coaching team. He is now mentored on the Tour by his father Apostolos has been an instrumental figure in his development as a player over the years.
“It was a mutual decision. We spent countless hours on the phone talking a few weeks ago. It’s never easy having two coaches on the court,” Tsitsipas told reporters ahead of the French Open.
“I know they are there to help and give the best they can, and provide for me. But sometimes it can get quite kind of hectic having two coaches share opinions.’
“I’m at a phase of my career where I need one coach that can provide all the information, all the analysis and all of the things that I’m looking for to improve my game. Less is more, in my opinion.”
The 24-year-old says having too many people around him can be ‘mentally draining.’ Tsitsipas’ decision comes amid what has been a solid past few weeks on the Tour. Since the start of the European clay swing, he has reached the quarter-finals or better at four consecutive tournaments. His best run was at the Barcelona Open where he finished runner-up to Carlos Alcaraz.
“It is very important to stick with few people, in my opinion, and make that work because when you have a lot of people around you, it can get very draining for your mental energy,” he said.
“I have had weeks where I just travelled with my coach because that’s how I felt it should have been done and I don’t regret any of it, because it’s a personal feeling. I love Mark. He’s an amazing person, and we still stay in touch with him very often.”
Whilst he has gone deep at numerous events in recent times, it has been almost a year since Tsitsipas has won a singles trophy of any kind. He will be hoping to end his drought at Roland Garros which he reached the final of back in 2021.
It is possible that Tsitsipas could become world No.1 in Paris should he claim the title. However, to do so Carlos Alcaraz must lose before the fourth round and Daniil Medvedev has to lose before the semi-final stage.
“Opponents are tough opponents. Some of them might not like clay as much as I do, and some have actually picked up on clay, one of them being Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev,” he said. “Guys like Novak Djokovic always are a threat.
“My capacity is big and grand, and I can feel it. I just need to get a few good first matches to keep believing that I actually can do something this year.”
Tsitsipas will begin his French Open bid against Czech player Jiri Vesely.
