Former grand slam finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas says he has sacked his father Apostolos Tsitsipas as his coach.
Tsitsipas, the runner-up at the French Open and Australian Open and a former world No 3, confirmed the split ahead of Wimbledon and said his decision was final.
The Greek star, who has fallen to 87th in the world after a difficult couple of years of form, had previously parted ways with his father only to rehire him later.
“It will take him some time to accept it, as it did the last time we split,” Tsitsipas, 27, said ahead of Wimbledon, as reported by Clay.
“Back then I left a small window open. Now I believe he has a great deal to offer others . But to me, I think he’s already given everything he possibly could.
“The older I get, the harder I find it to maintain a stable relationship with my father in a coaching context. I feel we’ve reached a point where I’m looking for something completely different.”
Tsitsipas was hailed as a future star and one of the next “Big Three” along with Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev tipped to take over from Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
He reached the 2019 French Open final, as well as the 2023 Australian Open final, and climbed to as high as No 3 in the world.
Further success has eluded him, however, and Tsitsipas failed to progress further than the second round of a grand slam last season while falling out of the world’s top 50.
“Over this last stretch, I felt that having my father by my side gave me a sense of comfort, but that wasn’t the solution I needed to take the next steps and do something different in my career,” he said.
“Of course I love him very much and want the best for him, but right now I’m thinking about myself and what is best for me.”
Tsitsipas had a brief coaching spell with former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic last year but it only lasted two months.
Ivanisevic was highly critical of Tsitsipas after the split, and said: “I’ve talked to him a lot of times. If he solves some things outside of tennis, then he’ll return to where he belongs.”
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Esta notícia foi originalmente publicada em: Fonte original