What Goran Ivanisevic’s friend has been saying about him as his Stefanos Tsitsipas comments create shock 

Follow us on Google Discover

Goran Ivanisevic made headlines recently with his shocking comments about Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Ahead of the grass-court season, Tsitsipas hired Ivanisevic, a former Wimbledon champion, as his coach.

Losing in the second round of Halle, the 26-year-old travelled to SW19 with just one win under his belt.

Low on confidence, Tsitsipas retired injured down two sets to love against Valentin Royer in the first round of Wimbledon.

After the Greek star lost his opening match at Wimbledon, Ivanisevic described Tsitsipas as the most ‘underprepared player’ he’d seen.

Reacting to those comments, a former Wimbledon champion has revealed what someone close to Ivanisevic has said about him recently.

Goran Ivanisevic’s friend said he’s a great guy but is ‘crazy’ and has ‘no filter’

During the latest episode of ‘The Tennis’, 2005 Wimbledon doubles champion Stephen Huss shared what his cousin, a friend of Ivanisevic, has said about the Croat.

“I have a cousin who played a lot of tennis with Goran Ivanisevic, and knows him pretty well, and he said, great guy, but absolutely crazy guy,” said Huss.

“No filter with what he’s saying, and I think this is what you are seeing here.”

Huss proceeded to share his thoughts on Ivanisevic’s comments about the former world number three.

“Not only was he disparaging about [Stefanos] Tsitsipas’ tennis, he talked about him physically not being good enough, technically not being good enough, then he went on to also attack the mental, saying that’s the biggest part, and all these tennis players are on antidepressants,” he said.

“He really went over the top with these comments, unbelievable.”

The Australian couldn’t understand the logic behind Ivanisevic’s comments, as he questioned the 53-year-old’s motivations.

“The thought I had, as a coach, and someone who’s really interested in investing and trying to get players to maximise their potential, these are the sort of chats that you want to have with players, you’re trying to get through to them, where can you improve, what needs addressing, let’s not ignore areas that can get better,” said Huss.

“Why would you come out and say that in the media?

“He’s getting a lot of attention around that, so I’m thinking, does he want attention?

“As a coach, you need to address things, but you do it behind closed doors, you do it with the team, with the player, and you try to get that buy-in so they can improve.”

Huss sympathised with Tsitsipas, who will be ranked 27th on Monday, having been ranked as high as three in the world just a few short years ago.

“With Tsitsipas, he’s potentially in a mentally challenging situation, because he was up there playing Grand Slam finals, he’s an incredible player, I love his diversity, love the fact that he’s a single hander, he’s really good for the tour, would love to see him have success,” he said.

“But maybe there’s a little piece of him that goes ‘I had my chance, now [Carlos] Alcaraz and [Jannik] Sinner have come up and gone past me, I might have missed my chance’.

“That’s mentally very challenging, and apparently there’s things happening in his personal life that are challenging, to come out and then his coach comes out and lays it on, it’s pretty tough on him.”

Huss isn’t the only ex-player to have given his verdict on Ivanisevic’s comments, as a former singles Grand Slam finalist was keen to share his thoughts.

Marcos Baghdatis questions Goran Ivanisevic’s decision to publicly criticise Stefanos Tsitsipas

During an interview with UbiTennis, 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis was asked for his opinions on Ivanisevic’s criticism of Tsitsipas.

“99 percent of what he said, I’m pretty sure he’s right because I know Goran. I know he’s a great guy, he says things as they are and as he sees them,” said Baghdatis.

“But me personally, if I were coaching, I wouldn’t go out there and say this in the media. I would tell it to the team, and I would tell it to Stefanos himself.

“Then, if he doesn’t want to listen, I would part ways and that’s it.”

With that being said, Baghdatis revealed what he hopes Ivanisevic’s comments will do for Tsitsipas.

“He’s [Tsitsipas] doubting himself right now, which is normal when you’re lost,” he said.

“Maybe Goran’s way is the way. I hope the way that Goran took things into his hands will help Stefanos, and it will shock Stefanos in a way to come back.”

Only time will tell if Ivanisevic’s comments will inspire Tsitsipas to push on and return to the top ten, but it will certainly be something to look out for as the season progresses.

Tsitsipas is scheduled to return to action at the Croatia Open, which begins on Monday, July 21.