The Greek tennis star Seriously Considered Walking Away Amid Pain-Filled 2025 Season
Stefanos Tsitsipas was the 26th seed at last year's US Open
The tennis professional disclosed he thought about quitting the sport because of severe back issues throughout the 2025 tennis year.
The 27-year-old, who has reached a career-high ranking of world number three, was a finalist against Novak Djokovic in the finals of the 2021 French Open and the 2023 Australian Open.
Now ranked 36th in the world after a limited schedule post a second-round departure in New York this past summer, Tsitsipas indicated that ongoing treatment is finally showing encouraging progress.
"I'm most excited is to observe how my body holds up under actual training concerning my back," commented Tsitsipas.
"The biggest fear centered on if I could complete an encounter," he added, explaining the pain had troubled him "for the past six to eight months."
"I would wonder, 'Am I able to play another contest without discomfort?'"
"It was genuinely scary after the defeat in Flushing Meadows [to Germany's Daniel Altmaier]. I was unable to move for 48 hours. That's when you begin to question the path ahead."
He also reported satisfaction regarding the present treatment regimen following the completion of five weeks of pre-season training completely pain-free.
He is scheduled to compete for Greece in the United Cup, where they face Team Japan led by Osaka and the Great Britain squad led by Emma Raducanu. The competition takes place in Perth and Sydney in early January, the week preceding the Australian Open.
"The greatest victory for 2026 is to not have concerns over completing bouts," he stated.
"It is incredibly encouraging realizing you completed a pre-season in good health – I hope it continues. I want to deliver during the upcoming season and for the team championship.
"The effort is invested. The crucial element is complete faith in my ability to get back to where I was. I will try all means to achieve that."
