Stefanos Tsitsipas was one of the biggest early casualties from Wimbledon this year.
Tsitsipas retired against Valentin Royer in his first round match at Wimbledon this year due to an ongoing back injury.
Following the world number 26 exiting the tournament, Tsitsipas was criticised by coach Goran Ivanisevic for his attitude.
Ivanisevic has coached Tsitsipas since the start of the grass court season, with the Greek only winning one of his three matches during the start of their tenure.
Goran Ivanisevic states which part of Stefanos Tsitsipas’ game he thinks needs improvement
Ivanisevic has continued his critique of his player during an interview with Clay after being asked what area of Tsitsipas’ game needs the biggest improvement.
The Croatian highlighted Tsitsipas’ serve in particular, but also named two other aspects of his game before suggesting that off the court issues are a bigger problem for the two-time Grand Slam finalist.
“His biggest issue is his backhand, especially the slice,” said Ivanisevic. “Technically he needs to adjust the grip a bit, and also work on his return. He recently changed racquets too.
“On the serve, he should stop twisting his body so much, maybe bring one foot closer to the other — but these are things you address in the off-season, not before Wimbledon.
“And to be honest, tennis is the least of his problems. The other stuff is much bigger. He also needs to sort out his back problems.”
Goran Ivanisevic reveals what he told Stefanos Tsitsipas after his first round Wimbledon defeat
Tsitsipas was one of 13 seeded men’s singles players to have been knocked out in the first round of Wimbledon this year.
As Ivanisevic continued, he revealed what he told Tsitsipas after the match, advising him to take a break from tennis to sort out his ‘disaster’ physical issues.
“We did. I told him not to play tennis right now,” said Ivanisevic. “He needs to fix his back and get physically fit because physically — he’s a disaster. I can’t understand how a player of his level can be so unfit. After that, he can think about playing tennis again.
“That’s the foundation, and after that, he just has to wait for his chance. He hasn’t forgotten how to play — two months ago he won a 500 tournament in Dubai, beating good players. He’s a dangerous player.
“There are things I can explain to him and connect with him because I felt that way too when I fell to 128 in the world. He’s 26th — that’s a big difference. But I didn’t have off-court issues, I made my own problems.”
Although Ivanisevic wants Tsitsipas to take some time away from the tennis court to recover from his back injury, the world number 26 is currently entered into the Croatia Open that takes place in two weeks’ time.
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