What Stefanos Tsitsipas said he was ‘very close’ to achieving in 2022 which now feels further away than ever before

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Stefanos Tsitsipas is at a very different position in his career after a challenging 2025 season.

Tsitsipas won the Dubai Tennis Championships back in February, which was actually the first ATP 500 title of his career.

However, the Greek has only won 14 of his 28 matches since his triumph in Dubai, with Tsitsipas dealing with an ongoing back problem which has prevented him from playing more than two official matches since the US Open.

Tsitsipas is a two-time Grand Slam finalist, and previous comments show just how far he has fallen in that time.

Stefanos Tsitsipas claimed he was ‘very close’ to becoming world number one in 2022

Tsitsipas reached his first Grand Slam final at the French Open in 2021, where he actually led Novak Djokovic by two sets to love before eventually losing.

The Greek has a career-high ranking of world number three, and in 2022 he spoke to German outlet Tennis Magazin about his future goals.

In this interview, Tsitsipas admitted that he had set his goals very high and set his sights on becoming a Grand Slam champion.

“Good question. I’d say I’m at a point in my career where I’ve set the bar very high: in terms of my ranking, and in terms of my chances of winning Grand Slams,” answered Tsitsipas. “Now it’s about taking that little extra step that I haven’t quite managed yet.”

Tsitsipas was then asked how close he thinks he is to winning a Grand Slam title and becoming world number one.

While many players would hesitate to answer this question, Tsitsipas suggested that he had a realistic aim to reach the summit of the ATP rankings.

“Very close. I was number three last year, which was my highest ranking to date,” said Tsitsipas. “The elbow surgery last November set me back a bit for a while. I intend to get back there. But of course, I also want to be number two and number one.”

Tsitsipas did reach another Grand Slam final after this interview at the 2023 Australian Open, but his career has gone on more of a downward trajectory since then.

Having only won three matches at his last six Grand Slam tournaments, Tsitsipas has subsequently fallen to his lowest ranking in seven years.

When was the last time Stefanos Tsitsipas was not seeded at a Grand Slam?

Tsitsipas has fallen down to world number 34 after his recent drop off in form, which means that he is outside the 32 seeded places for the Australian Open next year.

If he is unable to be seeded in Melbourne next year then it will be the first time that Tsitsipas will not be seeded at a Grand Slam since the French Open in 2018.

However, Tsitsipas’ fitness will still be an ongoing concern and it is still unclear as to how long it will take for him to be fully fit again.

Not only has Tsitsipas had a turbulent season in terms of injuries and results, but he has also had a turbulent situation with his coaches.

Tsitsipas split with Goran Ivanisevic after just two months working together, and he is now back having his father as his main coach.