Milan, Jan. 1 (LaPresse) – Stefanos Tsitsipas revealed that he considered the idea of retiring from tennis due to severe back pain during the 2025 season. The 27-year-old former world No. 3, a two-time Grand Slam finalist, both times defeated by Novak Djokovic at the 2021 French Open and the 2023 Australian Open, now down to No. 36 in the world after playing only two Davis Cup matches following his second-round elimination at the US Open in August, said he is finally seeing progress thanks to ongoing medical treatment.
“I’m very excited to see how my actual training will respond to my back,” Tsitsipas said, as reported by the BBC. “My biggest concern was whether I would be able to finish a match,” he added. Tsitsipas said the injury had been haunting him “for the past six or eight months.” “I was asking myself: ‘Can I play another match without pain?’ I was very scared after the loss at the US Open (against Germany’s Daniel Altmaier). I couldn’t walk for two days. That’s when I reconsidered the future of my career,” he added.
Tsitsipas then said he is satisfied with his current treatment plan after completing five weeks of off-season training without pain. He will play for Greece, which is in a group with Naomi Osaka’s Japan and Emma Raducanu-led Great Britain, in the United Cup, to be held in Perth and Sydney from January 2 to 11, the week before the Australian Open.
“My biggest victory for 2026 would be not having to worry about finishing matches. I’ve committed myself. The most important thing is to firmly believe that I can get back to where I was before. I’ll do everything to make it happen,” he concluded.