The Greek tennis star Seriously Considered Walking Away During Injury-Plagued Campaign
The athlete entered the previous US Open as the 26th seed.
Stefanos Tsitsipas has revealed he thought about ending his career due to debilitating spinal pain throughout the 2025 tennis year.
At 27 years old, the player once ranked as high as third globally, was a finalist against Novak Djokovic in the finals of the 2021 French Open alongside the 2023 Australian Open.
Currently placed as the world's 36th best player following minimal competition since his second-round departure at the US Open this past summer, Tsitsipas indicated that ongoing treatment is finally showing positive results.
"I'm most excited is to observe how my body responds during actual training with regard to my injury," said Tsitsipas.
"The biggest fear was whether I could complete an encounter," he added, noting the injury had troubled him "for the past half a year or more."
"I would wonder, 'Can I compete in another match pain-free?'"
"I became truly frightened after the defeat at the US Open [to Germany's Daniel Altmaier]. I could not to walk for two days. That is the moment begin to question the path ahead."
Tsitsipas further mentioned satisfaction regarding his current recovery plan after finishing five weeks of pre-season training completely pain-free.
He is scheduled to compete for Greece at the team event, drawn against Naomi Osaka's Japan and the Great Britain squad led by Emma Raducanu. The competition takes place in Perth and Sydney from 2 to 11 January, just before the season's first major.
"The greatest victory for 2026 would be to stop worrying over completing bouts," he expressed.
"It is incredibly encouraging realizing you had a pre-season in good health – I hope it continues. I want to deliver in 2026 and at the team championship.
"I have done the work. The most important thing is total belief in my ability to get back to my previous level. I will attempt everything to make it happen."
