Stefanos Tsitsipas opens up after ranking slide and tough 2025 season

Speaking on Sky Sports Tennis, Petchey highlighted his concerns for the Greek star following a 22-18 record in 2025.

The British coach and pundit pointed out that changes in coaching and recurring injuries didn’t help as he slid down the rankings.

“It’s been a very tricky 2025 for him, there have been a number of uncertainties, the coaching carousel, obviously, tried to move away from his dad for a little bit, went with Goran Ivanisevic, that didn’t work out well for Stef,” Petchey said. “He’s back with his dad, so a little bit of certainty there.

“The back being the major problem for him, only played 40 matches in 2025, he’s a guy who usually likes to play between 70 and 80 matches a year. Had he played a full season he would probably still be residing in the top 20. So I think the ranking is a little bit deceptive at 36 right now.”

Petchey then pointed to Tsitsipas’ dramatic decline in break points saved and converted compared to previous seasons.

“If you look at players’ careers year on year there may be a one or two percent shift at times,” Petchey continued. “For Stef in 2025 there was seven percent drop.”

“Was that the back? Was that the doubts about racket in big moments that came to the fore? You can see also corresponds to break points converted for Tsitsipas down at thirty four point eight percent another four percent drop. That uncertainty was a big differential.

“Those numbers in twenty twenty-three and twenty twenty-four I can assure you sit around top ten numbers with Sinner and Alcaraz so it was a big drop-off.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas kicks off 2026 with strong start after challenging year

Tsitsipas took a lengthy break from the tour, using the time between September and January to address the back problems that plagued his 2025 campaign.

He made his return at the United Cup, teaming up with Maria Sakkari to represent Greece.

The duo got off to a great start, each securing singles wins over Shintaro Mochizuki and Naomi Osaka.

They continued their strong showing by pairing up for doubles, where they comfortably beat Nao Hibino and Yasutaka Uchiyama in straight sets.

Next up for Tsitsipas and Sakkari is a matchup against Billy Harris and Emma Raducanu of Great Britain on 4 January.