Stefanos Tsitsipas suffered another early exit at a Grand Slam this season when he crashed out of the French Open in the second round, but is now embarking on a journey with a new coach.
Tsitsipas hired Goran Ivanisevic after his defeat to Matteo Gigante at Roland Garros in round two, and will work with him heading into the grass season.
Ivanisevic, who coached Novak Djokovic from 2019 to 2024, is a former Wimbledon champion, winning the tournament as a wildcard in 2001.
He reached a career high of second in the world, and since retiring, he has had plenty of experience in coaching.
Recently, Tsitsipas evaluated his experience and explained why he picked the Croatian as his new head coach.
Stefanos Tsitsipas reveals why he picked Goran Ivanisevic as his new coach
On the Changeover Podcast, Tsitsipas said: “There were many other candidates before I picked Goran.
“I was storming through different ideas and different people that I thought would add value to my coaching situation and my game.
“I feel like Goran is very experienced on the tour; he has worked with plenty of players.
“One thing that makes him stand out is his enormous persona, and this character that he has become through tennis, and winning Wimbledon obviously, and carrying so much experience throughout his career, both playing and coaching.
“I feel like he has a lot of knowledge, he’s a very wise person, and these are the characteristics I’m looking for when I’m aiming to work with someone; these are really important qualities for me.
“It takes a lot of confidence to decide something like this, and I was quite clear and quite confident on sticking with him.
“In my opinion, the lack of perspective from an ex-player, I never had that other than with Mark Philippoussis.
“I think that’s part of an identity in a coach that is important, to have played before at a high level.”
On his father and ex-coach, Apostolos Tsitsipas, he said: “Now we’ve found a new way of communication and a new way of having a relationship with one another, which feels much healthier than it was before.
“It reached the point where tennis got too much in the way, and as bad as it sounds, I think it got toxic in a way because I feel like he was hunting, and it reached the point where he was hunting more than me.
“And that’s where the pressure kicks in, that’s where I feel the toxicity of it all, and that’s not the environment I envisioned with tennis.
“I envisioned to be someone who’s going to achieve big things, but to do it in a much healthier state; in a much less greedy state, if I may say.”
Goran Ivanisevic’s coaching history
Ivanisevic began his coaching career in 2013, when he was hired by former US Open champion Marin Cilic, a partnership that lasted until 2016.
He then had a short stint with Tomas Berdych from 2016 to 2017, and with Milos Raonic from 2018 to 2019.
In 2019, he was hired by 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic, who is the player Ivanisevic has spent the most time with in a player-coach relationship.
Djokovic was also the player he had the most success with, leading the Serb to nine major titles in the head coaching role.
After briefly coaching Elena Rybakina in 2025, Ivanisevic will now try and help Tsitsipas to get back to the top of his game.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
