By Shrivathsa Sridhar
NEW YORK, Aug 31 (Reuters) – Stefanos Tsitsipas said ending a coaching relationship with his father Apostolos had brought much-needed calm to his tennis life and rebuilt his confidence after the Greek beat 10th seed Arthur Fils in the first round of the U.S. Open on Monday.
Tsitsipas reached two Grand Slam finals and a career-high ranking of world number three under the guidance of his father, whom he parted ways with in 2024 after a 23-year spell together before renewing the arrangement last year.
But after injury problems and a string of disappointing results, Tsitsipas split with his father again before Wimbledon this year and brought in Thomas Perrin to his team as he sought to revive his fortunes.
“I personally felt like I needed it. I needed a different voice. I needed someone who provides a little bit more calm into my tennis world,” Tsitsipas told reporters after beating Fils 4-6 7-6(3) 6-1 6-4.
“There was a lot of chaos surrounding me before and a lot of noise. It took, for me, a long time to figure it out and realise that I just can’t cope with it anymore. I also felt I grew up.”
Tsitsipas said he had no regrets about making the change.
“I realised that having people who sometimes bring the worst out of you instead of the best … these are some of the things that need fixing,” he added.
“As much as I love the person that I work with, my father, and we have an amazing relationship outside of the tennis court, these sort of dynamics don’t serve my purpose anymore as much, so I really needed that change.”
Tsitsipas ended a 16-month wait for an ATP Tour title when he beat Belgium’s Raphael Collignon to win the Swiss Open crown in July after falling outside the world’s top 80. He has since climbed to 53rd in the rankings.
The former Australian Open and French Open finalist said he had lost some of his confidence in the months when his form and fitness came into question.
“That’s why I’m very ecstatic about today,” he said of the win over Cincinnati champion Fils.
“It’s an important, good victory for me, for my confidence. It’s one of those moments that you’re able to look back into and be like ‘I’ve still got the game that I’m looking for, and I’ve still got the shots and the quality is still there’.
“These matches, they just give me a lot to work with. I didn’t get to play a lot of those this year. I didn’t have deep runs in tournaments, as much as I would have wished. Wins like this add a lot to my personal growth as a player.
“They definitely provide belief and add more to my game in terms of all the sacrifices I’ve been putting out there, working so hard, and just showing up early in the morning for practice sessions and then moving on to the gym.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in New YorkEditing by Toby Davis)
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