Goran Ivanisevic eviscerated his own player, Stefanos Tsitsipas, on live TV after the Greek star retired from Wimbledon in the first round. On the opening day of the tournament, Tsitsipas ended his match with Valentin Royer after the second set, while down 6-3 6-2.
He took a medical time-out while trailing 4-1 in the first set and received treatment for his back on court. The 26-year-old could be heard complaining, “It’s impossible to play tennis like this” before trying to play on with the pain. But he eventually called time on his Grand Slam campaign early.
Tsitsipas recently enlisted the help of Ivanisevic, who won Wimbledon in 2001 and enjoyed a fruitful partnership with Novak Djokovic between 2019 and 2024, winning nine majors together. He also helped Marin Cilic to the US Open title in 2014.
At the time, Tsitsipas hoped that Ivanisevic would “definitely give me a clear direction of where I’m lacking and where I should be focusing on when it comes to my strengths.”
And he did just that, publicly blasting his client on Serbian TV. He said live on Sport Klub: “It’s simple and it’s not simple. I’ve talked to him a lot of times. If he solves some things outside of tennis, then he has a chance and he’ll return to where he belongs, because he’s too good a player to be out of the top 10.
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“He wants, but he doesn’t do anything. All ‘I want, I want’, but I don’t see that progress. I was shocked, I have never seen a more unprepared player in my life. With this knee, I am three times more fit than him. This is really bad.”
Ivanisevic’s brutal take-down came just days after Tsitsipas admitted that he is “battling many wars” and is facing the “most difficult situation” of his career, which is in doubt after another disappointing exit at a Slam.
After ruling out surgery, Tsitsipas conceded: “I don’t know what to do.
“It’s tough to describe. I mean, I’m battling many wars these days. It’s really painful to see myself in a situation like this.
“I feel like I’m left without answers. I don’t know. I’ve tried everything. I’ve done an incredible job with my fitness. I’ve done an incredible job with my physiotherapy, so I’ve maximised on everything that I possibly can do.
“Right now, I’m just absolutely left with no answers. I don’t know what to do.”
“It’s probably the most difficult situation that I’ve ever been faced with, because it’s an ongoing issue that doesn’t seem to be disappearing or fading off as much.
“Myself, as a person, I have a limit at some point, so I’ll definitely have to have my final answer on whether I want to do stuff or not in the next couple of months.”