Stefanos Tsitsipas Seriously Considered Walking Away During Pain-Filled 2025 Season
The athlete entered the previous US Open as the 26th seed.
Stefanos Tsitsipas has revealed he pondered ending his career due to debilitating back issues during the 2025 tennis year.
The 27-year-old, who has reached a career-high ranking of world number three, finished as runner-up to Novak Djokovic in the finals of the 2021 French Open alongside the 2023 Australian Open.
Now ranked as the world's 36th best player after a limited schedule since his second-round departure at the US Open in August, Tsitsipas indicated that ongoing treatment has begun yielding encouraging progress.
"My greatest anticipation lies in seeing how my training responds during actual training concerning my back," commented Tsitsipas.
"The biggest fear was whether I could complete a match," the athlete continued, noting the injury plagued him "for the past six to eight months."
"I kept asking, 'Am I able to play another contest without discomfort?'"
"I became truly frightened after the defeat at the US Open [to Germany's Daniel Altmaier]. I could not to move for 48 hours. That's when you start reconsidering your career's future."
Tsitsipas further mentioned satisfaction regarding his current recovery plan following the completion of an extended period of off-season preparation completely pain-free.
He is scheduled to compete for Greece at the team event, where they face Naomi Osaka's Japan and the Great Britain squad led by Emma Raducanu. The tournament will be held across Australian cities in early January, the week preceding the Australian Open.
"My main goal for 2026 is to not have concerns about finishing matches," he expressed.
"It provides fantastic feedback to know you completed a pre-season in good health – I wish for it to last. I want to deliver in 2026 and at the team championship.
"I have done the work. The most important thing is complete faith in my ability to get back to my previous level. I will try all means to make it happen."
