Stefanos Tsitsipas is not having the best moment of his career and some believe that his decline has already begun, although he is still a fairly young player. The Greek ace had surprised everyone in the early years of his career, he had defeated the Big 3 and seemed to be able to become the new world number 1 in a few years.
Stefanos Tsitsipas© @steftsitsipas X account
However, the situation has changed over the past year and a half. After reaching the final at the 2023 Australian Open, the champion from Athens has lost his certainties and the rise of new young talent has helped increase his crisis. Stefanos has begun to have an increasingly wide gap compared to Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, who have defeated him on more than one occasion and have already won several Grand Slam titles. Tsitsipas does not seem to have weapons against these two young champions and his chances of triumphing in a Major have become increasingly slim.
The Greek ace’s game seems even worse than in the early years of his career and confidence is really low at the moment. The opponents know his weaknesses very well and know what they have to do in the decisive moments of the matches. ‘Tsitsi’ has not found solutions so far, although he has interrupted the professional collaboration with his father Apostolos.
Badosa praises Tsitsipas
The 2021 French Open finalist admitted that he is a long way from the player he once was and can no longer find the right motivations. At the same time, Stefanos found happiness off the tennis court by starting a beautiful love-story with his colleague Paula Badosa. Although they took a little break a few months ago, Tsitsipas and Badosa love each other and are a beautiful couple.
Badosa has also experienced a very complicated moment this year due to a serious injury, which has put her career at risk. Tsitsipas’ help and support were crucial in that moment. In a recent interview with ‘Movistar +’, Paula praised her boyfriend: “I will never forget it. I wasn’t well, I wasn’t where I wanted to be. And I told him: I think I’m going to give up this year because I don’t see myself going back to this. And he looked at me with a face like I was crazy and said: ‘but you’re going to be in the top 10 again soon.’ I looked at him and said: ‘this one has gone.’ He loves me a lot.
When you have played tennis you perceive these things. He is a person who empathizes a lot. He has been there in almost all my bad moments and has been a great support for me. And we have something that is also very beautiful in a couple, which is to admire the other. We respect and admire each other a lot. Hearing those words from a great athlete like him motivates me. That your partner believes in you also helps.”
The Greek champion’s season ended after the Rolex Paris Masters, in which he was defeated by Sascha Zverev. 2025 will be really crucial to understand if Stefanos can return to the highest levels, or if his career has already reached its peak. Tsitsipas will have to change many things in his game and find new weapons to defeat the current top players (like Sinner, Alcaraz, Zverev and Medvedev), who are more complete players than him and more powerful from the baseline.
A delicate moment for both
It is right that the former Top 10 enjoys his life off the court and is happy, but he must do his best to shine again on the professional tour. Tennis needs a talented player like Tsitsipas, who is also one of the last exponents of the one-handed backhand. The relationship with Badosa can help him to be calmer on the pitch and to better control his emotions.
Paula Badosa© @paulabadosa X account
During an interview with Eurosport, Paula said that she is trying to teach Spanish to Tsitsipas: “He is not doing well, he has surprised me badly. I have told him off. And he has asked me for Greek! I am putting pressure on him. He says that next year he is going to travel with a teacher who speaks Spanish to him.
It’s a mix of everything. He also loves photography and I love posing. He likes to joke around and have fun on social media. It’s a very nice relationship. We understand each other well, we’re dedicated to the same thing, we have the same goals. We have a very healthy relationship, and it’s not easy because we’re two athletes…”