Stefanos Tsitsipas had to deal with some significant challenges throughout the 2025 tennis season.
Tsitsipas reached the Australian Open final in 2023, where he lost to Novak Djokovic in his second championship match at a major tournament.
The Greek has failed to surpass a Grand Slam quarterfinal since then, with Tsitsipas having a particularly disappointing 2025 season and falling outside the top 30 for the first time in seven years.
A lot of issues for Tsitsipas have been related to an ongoing back injury, and he has now highlighted the most painful thing he had to do last year.
Stefanos Tsitsipas comments on the difficulties he faced in 2025
The back injury was a particular issue in the latter stages of the 2025 season for Tsitsipas, who played his last tournament of the year in September.
This included Tsitsipas withdrawing from the tournament in Athens, which hosted an ATP tournament for the first time in 29 years.
When asked about the difficulties he has faced in recent months, Tsitsipas named withdrawing from the tournament in Athens as the ‘most painful experience’.
“The most painful experience was at the Athens Open, not getting to play,” Tsitsipas said in his press conference at the United Cup. “It really hurt me a lot, given that it would be my home tournament, the thing that I always dreamt as a child to play a home tournament one day. It didn’t happen. It came in all such a bad moment with my back. So it was a very sensitive period for me emotionally.
“But the good thing is that I’ve processed those emotions in advance and I accepted that I’m not playing in it for the better. I had a great chance, great opportunity playing at the Davis Cup in September with a full crowd at the Olympic stadium. That was honestly the biggest blessing because these are the moments that we strive for as tennis players, especially coming from small countries like Greece. We want attention like that for our sport. It helps a lot get recognition for what we’re doing. We don’t get big events of tennis in Athens and in Greece, generally speaking.
“The absence from the court teaches you so much about what else could happen, what other routes you can take besides tennis. In that particular moment of my life, I wouldn’t see tennis competing wasn’t something that I was doing. I was trying to get back. Training was mostly something that I was in my daily life.
“The most important thing, what I understood through the last couple of months, is health. If you manage to get healthy, then competition is fun, your daily life is fun. If you’re struggling with health-related problems, it can have a big toll on you mentally.
“Thankfully I have other things I did in my life, ventures and other interesting things in my life that could occupy that space that I’m used to my entire life.”
While Tsitsipas is now taking perspective on his difficult year, it is not clear as to whether he will ever be able to compete at the Hellenic Championships in Athens, as it has not been announced as part of the 2026 calendar.
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Stefanos Tsitsipas explains why he is happy to have been pushed to three sets
The former world number three has already made a better start to his 2026 season, with Tsitsipas messaging his doctor after winning his first match of the season.
Tsitsipas also stated his goal for the year after winning his second match of the season, which helped Greece qualify for the United Cup quarterfinals.
The second match against Briton Billy Harris went all the way to a third set tie-break, with Tsitsipas winning in two hours and 18 minutes.
Although many would not want to play longer matches to start their season, Tsitsipas suggested that he was actually happy to have been tested ahead of the Australian Open.
“I think it helps, first of all, building the capacity in your lungs to withstand matches like this,” said Tsitsipas. “One thing that is going through your mind when you’re playing a long match like that is, this is such a great preparation before the Aussie Open. The format is different there, best-of-five.
“Getting tough matches in makes you a better player, improves your IQ as a player. You get to try things. You get to experiment with a few things you’re not entirely sure about when you’re on the court.
“In my case, the more I get to spend time on the court, the more I get to figure out certain things. Matches always help. I’m a matches person. I’ve always been. It feeds my creativity. It feeds my zone of understanding that should be done more and maybe we should improve this. It always works as feedback. It is important having matches like this before a big slam.”
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Tsitsipas will look to lead Greece to the United Cup semifinals when they take on USA in Perth on January 7.
This will see Tsitsipas play world number nine Taylor Fritz, who has been struggling with an injury at the start of the 2026 season.
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