'He should have done it personally with Stefanos' - Tsitsipas' dad on Goran Ivanisevic publicly saying the Greek star was out of shape

Former World No.3 Stefanos Tsitsipas has been in a slump of sorts during the 2025 ATP season, despite making coaching changes over the past year. The Greek star's brief alliance with former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic suffered an acrimonious break up, and Apostolos Tsitsipas, father of Stefanos, has shed some light on what really transpired between the duo.

After coaching his son throughout his career, Apostolos left Stefanos' team last summer, with the father-son team hoping to maintain a healthier personal relationship. The two-time Grand Slam runner-up would begin a collaboration with Ivanisevic prior to the 2025 Wimbledon Championships, which ended with sooner than anyone had anticipated.

Tsitsipas suffered a first round loss at SW19, losing to Frenchman Valentin Royer. Subsequently, Ivanisevic would leave some scathing remarks regarding Tsitsipas, saying the Greek player was "unfit" and a "disaster."

After less than two months as his coach, Tsitsipas would part ways with Ivanisevic as coach. However, the World No.28 would announce his reunion with his father, who was returning as his coach.

Apostolos not pleased with Ivanisevic's comments

Following his return to his son's team, Apostolos would finally break his silence on Ivanisevic's role on Stefanos' team. In an interview in New York prior to the US Open, the Greek coach was asked to give his thoughts on Ivanisevic's comments regarding his son's fitness.

"I wasn’t very involved then," said Apostolos. "Probably Goran saw something he didn’t like. He should have identified it at the beginning of their professional relationship with Stefanos and discussed it personally with Stefanos and his team and tell him what he wants from him. Goran is a professional, I’m sure he has his own ideas, how to make things working, but definitely he should have done it personally with Stefanos.
"I didn’t like that he expressed his opinions publicly. It’s interesting for the public to know about all these things, but the most important for the people is to see Stefanos playing good tennis. And the responsible about that are the members of his team. We are teachers. Coaches must create the right environment for the player to develop."

Despite the new coaching change, Tsitsipas' poor run of form would continue. The 27-year old suffered an upset second round loss at Flushing Meadows on Thursday, losing to German Daniel Altmaier in five sets.