Goran Ivanisevic, the 2001 Wimbledon champion and current ATP Tour coach, offered harsh and bold criticism of his player Stefanos Tsitsipas during the 2025 Wimbledon tournament. Speaking to Balkans broadcaster Sport Klub, the Croatian legend was blunt about Tsitsipas’s preparation and focus:
“He keeps saying ‘I want, I want,’ but I don’t see any progress. I was shocked; I’ve never seen a player so poorly prepared in my life. With my knee, I’m three times better prepared than him.”
Tsitsipas’s Ranking Decline and Injury Woes
Tsitsipas, 26, and once ranked as high as world No. 3, is currently outside the top 20 and enduring a difficult stretch in his career. The Greek No. 1 retired from his first-round match at Wimbledon and continues to struggle with lower back issues that have kept him off the court. In his post-match press conference, he expressed frustration:
“I’ve done an incredible job with my fitness. I’ve done an incredible job with my physiotherapy, so I’ve maximized on everything that I possibly can do. Right now, I’m just absolutely left with no answers.”
Ivanisevic echoed similar sentiments, noting Tsitsipas is “too good to be outside of the top 10,” while also emphasizing personal accountability. When their coaching partnership began, Ivanisevic said he found the player unprepared for the demands of elite tennis.
Part of Another Lost Generation?
A 12-time ATP Tour champion, Tsitsipas reached the finals of the 2021 French Open and 2023 Australian Open, losing both to Novak Djokovic—renowned for his fitness and dedication to the sport. Touted as a future No. 1 and multi-Slam winner, Tsitsipas has now suffered first or second-round exits in his last five Grand Slams. His sharpest decline began after winning the 2023 Monte Carlo Masters and making the French Open quarterfinals.
In earlier interviews, Tsitsipas expressed confidence in the Ivanisevic partnership, admitting:
“I could have benefited having Goran maybe 3-4 years ago. And he could have taught me the valuable things that I’m learning today, maybe a little bit earlier… I feel like, yeah, I’ve wasted time of maybe not feeling like I’ve grown.”
When healthy, Tsitsipas still shows flashes of top end talent. He won the ATP 500 event in Dubai this year and possesses the shotmaking to challenge the very best. However, to consistently compete with stars like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, Tsitsipas will need to raise both his physical and mental standards.
Much has been said about the “lost generation” of men’s tennis during the dominance of Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, and Murray. Now Tsitsipas seems to be part of another group—alongside Alexander Zverev (28) and Daniil Medvedev (29)—who are also facing setbacks and questions about their futures. Dominic Thiem, another talent of this era, has already retired at age 31, his body unable to withstand the demands of the modern game.
Whatever the merit of Goran’s critique, the greater concern may be that Tsitsipas’s chronic back problems are simply not recoverable—potentially preventing him from ever again maintaining the elite form needed to win a Grand Slam, despite his shotmaking prowess.
Main Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea – Imagn Images
