Stefanos Tsitsipas has struggled in 2025, as he continues to drop further down the rankings.
The Greek star was once ranked number three in the world and reached two Grand Slam finals, at the French Open in 2021, and at the Australian Open in 2023.
Now ranked 25th in the world, Tsitsipas is competing at this week’s Halle Open without a seed next to his name for the first time in seven years.
Looking to rediscover his form ahead of the grass-court season, Tsitsipas hired Goran Ivanisevic as his coach.
The pair got off to a winning start in Halle when Tsitsipas beat Italy’s Luciano Darderi 6-4, 3-6, 7-6.
Reacting to their first match together, former world number one Andy Roddick highlighted the one change he’s noticed Tsitsipas make since Ivanisevic joined his team.
Andy Roddick noticed Stefanos Tsitsipas playing with a ‘different intensity’ under Goran Ivanisevic
Speaking to Tennis Channel Live, Roddick gave his verdict on Tsitsipas and Ivanisevic’s first win together.
“Stef [Tsitsipas] needs a jolt of energy, right? A reason to focus, and obviously, when you have someone who has won Wimbledon in your corner, you’d be well served to listen,” he said.
“You can see Stef just playing with maybe a little bit of a different intensity, maybe more intentional, maybe less glances and kind of questioning looks.
“But he looks super solid, looked like he was leaning into the backhand a little bit more.”
After winning the first set 6-4, Tsitsipas dropped the second 3-6 and needed treatment before coming through to win in three sets.
“[Luciano] Darderi exposed him a little bit to take the second set. Listen, this is where Stef has struggled a little bit, is these big points. Same deal today,” he said.
“Except this, you can’t really control. It doesn’t matter who your coach is if the body is not working.”
Battling through to win in a deciding-set tiebreaker 7-6 [7-5], Tsitsipas left Roddick impressed.
“All in all, I like what I saw from Stef today. Mixing it up coming in a little bit on the serve, but right there, regardless of how this could go from this point forward, he ends up winning the match, he looks composed, doesn’t look stressed,” he said.
“This is a great move, a move that he had to make with Goran, and I think this is going to be a great partnership.”
Roddick went on to highlight the changes he’d like to see Ivanisevic make to Tsitsipas’ game.
“Something I would like to see Stef do… he’s used that chip a little bit more for someone who has that kind of flashy one-hander and is capable, even just the simple chips that are kind of like that inside out up the line to bring traffic back to his forehand, those little things on grass, will matter,” he said.
“I don’t see him just taking it early on the backhand consistently. I’d like to see him switch it up a little bit.
“But listen, any trick, any advice that we have, Goran [Ivanisevic] already knows, so he’s getting the right advice now.”
Coco Vandeweghe thinks grass-courts can be ‘special’ for Stefanos Tsitsipas
Roddick’s fellow American Coco Vandeweghe took the time to weigh in with her thoughts on Tsitsipas’ coaching change.
“We’ve talked about it, his dad being part of his team has kind of ran its course,” she said.
“That’s not to say that his dad didn’t do a good enough job to get him there, but now it’s time to hear somebody who’s not only done it themselves, but has brought somebody like Novak Djokovic to a peak we didn’t think he could reach.”
Vandeweghe believes Ivanisevic and Tsitsipas have similar games and is expecting the 26-year-old to achieve great things on the grass.
“I think Goran [Ivanisevic] had that same kind of game that Stefanos does, power game, big serve, how to follow that up, and how to hide that backhand long enough,” she said.
“I think the grass courts could be a special place for Stefanos.”
To date, the grass has been far from a ‘special place’ for the world number 25, as he has yet to reach the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, the sole grass-court Major tournament.
Stefanos Tsitsipas’ Wimbledon defeats
- 2024 Wimbledon – Stefanos Tsitsipas lost in 2R to Emil Ruusuvuori
- 2023 Wimbledon – Stefanos Tsitsipas lost in 4R to Chris Eubanks
- 2022 Wimbledon – Stefanos Tsitsipas lost in 3R to Nick Kyrgios
- 2021 Wimbledon – Stefanos Tsitsipas lost in 1R to Frances Tiafoe
- 2019 Wimbledon – Stefanos Tsitsipas lost in 1R to Thomas Fabbiano
- 2018 Wimbledon – Stefanos Tsitsipas lost in 4R to John Isner
- 2017 Wimbledon – Stefanos Tsitsipas lost in 1R to Dusan Lajovic
He does, however, have a grass-court title to his name, winning the Mallorca Championships title in 2022, beating Roberto Bautista Agut in the final.
With former Wimbledon champion Ivanisevic by his side, Tsitsipas will no doubt hope to add a second grass title to his collection before too long.
He’s in with a chance of doing just that in Halle, as he prepares for his second-round match against either Francisco Cerundolo or Alex Michelsen on Wednesday, June 18.
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