Stefanos Tsitsipas Seriously Considered Walking Away During Pain-Filled 2025 Season
Stefanos Tsitsipas was the 26th seed at last year's US Open
The tennis professional disclosed he pondered quitting the sport due to debilitating spinal pain throughout the season.
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 following minimal competition since his early exit in New York this past summer, Tsitsipas indicated that ongoing treatment has begun yielding encouraging progress.
"My greatest anticipation is to observe how my training responds during regular practice with regard to my injury," said Tsitsipas.
"My primary worry centered on if I could complete a match," he added, noting the injury had troubled him "over the last half a year or more."
"I kept asking, 'Am I able to play in another match 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 the present treatment regimen after finishing five weeks of off-season preparation completely pain-free.
He is scheduled to compete for Greece at the team event, drawn against Team Japan led by Osaka and the British team captained by Raducanu. The competition will be held in Perth and Sydney in early January, just before the Australian Open.
"The greatest victory for 2026 would be to not have concerns about finishing matches," he expressed.
"It provides fantastic feedback to know you completed a pre-season in good health – I hope it continues. I want to deliver in 2026 and at the team championship.
"The effort is invested. The most important thing is total belief in my ability to get back to where I was. I will attempt everything to achieve that."
