Stefanos Tsitsipas has long been touted as one of the brightest stars of the next generation, yet his recent form has sparked growing concern within the tennis world. Once a regular contender at the sharp end of majors and ATP Masters 1000 events, the Greek has struggled to find some consistency in the last few years. This has led many to raise a question mark about whether he’s losing his grip on the elite tier of men’s tennis…
In 2019, Tsitsipas became the youngest player to win the ATP Finals since 2001. Following an impressive three-set triumph over Dominic Thiem in London, he said that he believes he’s “really close” to winning a Grand Slam. Although he came inches closer to clinching major titles twice (the 2021 French Open and the 2023 AO), he was defeated in the final on both of these occasions. Coming back to 2025, nothing has gone right for the former world number three other than his only title triumph at the Dubai Tennis Championships. His performances at the majors have been absolutely horrible this year. Stefanos Tsitsipas had made early exits from each of these four big events. Currently ranked 27th in the world, Stefanos Tsitsipas has a win-loss record of just 22-18 this season.
On top of that, he recently faced defeat at the hands of the 19-year-old Brazilian Joao Fonseca in Greece’s Davis Cup tie. The teenager defeated the Greek tennis heartthrob by 6-4,3-6,7-5 in just 2 hours and 7 minutes. More than the result, the manner in which he gifted the match to Fonseca has now become the talk of the town. Tsitsipas led Fonseca 5-3 in the deciding set and had an opportunity to serve for the match, which would have led to a deciding fifth rubber. But the Brazilian had the last laugh! Seeing Tsitsipas’ poor performance, Steve Johnson shared his thoughts during the recent episode of the Nothing Major Show. He said, “I mean, Tsitsipas is a rudderless boat at the moment. He has no idea what he’s doing. He just looks lost, I don’t know. He’s got to find some way to, like, get it back.”
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The American former pro further added, “I feel bad for him. The guy was top five in the world and competing for slams, and now just looks lost out there. Doesn’t have a purpose. Like, the game plan isn’t there. He just seems…just he’s just lost. So I feel for him.” This is a big setback for Stefanos Tsitsipas but a monumental victory for Joao Fonseca. After finishing the match on a positive note, the Brazilian was spotted turning to the crowd, pointing his finger to his ear, and soaking in the chorus of boos that erupted around the stadium. Phenomenal victory for the youngster.
Novak Djokovic was in Athens, and he attended the match with his son, Stefan. During his post-match interview, Fonseca spoke about how much it means for him to play for his nation and win the matches. He hoped Djokovic enjoyed the match and then went on to reflect a bit on the game plan against Stefanos Tsitsipas. He added, “I told myself I had to take it point by point and keep being aggressive. My captain told me to maintain a positive attitude because Stefanos was going to feel the pressure. I knew he would stress in crucial moments because he hasn’t been winning many matches, and that was key.” What does Tsitsipas have to say about his poor run of form, though?
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Stefanos Tsitsipas’ reaction to his poor form
Stefanos Tsitsipas started his season at the AO, where he was knocked out by America’s Alex Michelsen in the first round. Seeing his title-winning run in Dubai and his QF appearances in some of the tournaments after that, his fans were quite optimistic about his chances at the French Open. But even there, he was knocked out in the second round by Italy’s Matteo Gigante. Following that shocking exit, he exited from the Top 20. Reacting to that, he admitted, “I believe that I am right where I am; my results have shown it. There is nothing that is unfair. The fairest thing on the tour is the world ranking, which highlights the best players. To put it simply, the ranking doesn’t lie.”
Having said that, he also admitted that his confidence on the court has taken a knock, and he stated that he believes he needs to improve in every part of his game. With that, he also hoped for a better run on grass, but…
In Wimbledon, he was forced to give a mid-match walkover to Valentin Royer (FRA) when he was trailing by 3-6,2-6 in the first round. After the match, Stefanos Tsitsipas said it’s pretty tough to describe the wars that he has had to go through these days. “It’s really painful to see myself in a situation like this. One thing that I absolutely hate doing is retiring or stopping a match, but I’ve never pictured myself being in a situation like this multiple times since the ATP Finals in Turin a couple of years back,” he said. The Greek looked absolutely clueless in his constant attempt to figure out what would work better for him.
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He has been through a challenging few months both on and off the court. He split with his coach, Goran Ivanisevic, after Wimbledon and then rehired his father as his main coach. Other than that, his breakup news with Paula Badosa also sent shockwaves across the tennis world, and on top of that, his back injury made things even worse.
Tsitsipas suggested that he thinks his injury may have returned due to the stress and anxiety of playing matches after struggling to find form. Later on, in an interview with Sky Sports, Stefanos Tsitsipas explained his attempt to “find peace” off the court. “I release all the stress by going on social media and watching videos for hours, because I like them. I realised that it would do me good if I set myself the goal for the next one, two, three years or even more, of not using social media.” He now wants to become more independent of social media. His search for finding his form and peace off the court continues, but what are your thoughts about his performance in 2025 so far?