Stefanos Tsitsipas weighs in on Goran Ivanisevic's controversial comments post-Wimbledon, hints at Croatian being a 'dictator'

Tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas suffered an early exit at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships, prompting his coach; Goran Ivanisevic to take some shots at the Greek's fitness. Subsequently, Tsitsipas opened up on the awkward encounter, highlighting the difficulty of working with "negative people."

The former World No.3 has had a torrid 2025 ATP season, and was hoping to regain his form at SW19. Tsitsipas even began working with former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic in May 2025, with hopes of adding different elements to his game.

However, the 26-year old suffered a first round loss to qualifier Valentin Royer. The Frenchman had won the first two sets before Tsitsipas decided to withdraw due to a back injury.

Following the loss, Ivanisevic was critical of Tsitsipas' performance. The 53-year old stated he had never seen a more unprepared player than Tsitsipas, and claimed he was currently three times fitter than the 26-year old Greek tennis star.

Tsitsipas breaks silence on Ivanisevic's outburst

Although the former French Open runner-up had refrained from making any public comments regarding Ivanisevic, Tsitsipas finally fired back in a recent interview with SDNA.

"When I work with the right people, with people that I choose and make me feel comfortable, there is a mood," began Tsitsipas. "Comfortable doesn't mean that I stop training whenever I want or that I tell you how much exercise I want to do, they are the ones who have a common line, who know how hard we work and what we want to achieve through the work we put in, but also maintain a friendly atmosphere throughout it all.
"It is very difficult to have dictators and people who speak negatively and you don't feel like they are close to you like family."

It comes as no surprise that the duo ended their partnership right after Wimbledon. The Athens native has struggled with his form this season, suffering a first round loss to Alex Michelsen at the 2025 Australian Open. Although he won the title in Dubai a few months later, the World No.29 would lose to Italian qualifier Matteo Gigante in four sets at the French Open.