The Greek tennis star Contemplated Walking Away During Injury-Plagued Campaign
Stefanos Tsitsipas was the 26th seed at last year's US Open
Stefanos Tsitsipas has revealed he thought about ending his career due to severe back issues throughout the season.
The 27-year-old, who has reached a career-high ranking of world number three, finished as runner-up against Novak Djokovic at both the 2021 French Open alongside the 2023 Australian Open.
Now ranked as the world's 36th best player after a limited schedule since his early exit at the US Open in August, he stated that ongoing treatment has begun yielding encouraging progress.
"My greatest anticipation is to observe how my body responds during actual training with regard to my injury," commented Tsitsipas.
"My primary worry was whether I could complete an encounter," the athlete continued, noting the injury had troubled him "over the last six to eight months."
"I kept asking, 'Am I able to play another contest without discomfort?'"
"It was genuinely scary after the defeat at the US Open [to Germany's Daniel Altmaier]. I was unable to walk for two days. That's when you begin to question your career's future."
Tsitsipas further mentioned satisfaction regarding the present treatment regimen after finishing an extended period of pre-season training without any pain.
He is scheduled to compete with the Greek team at the team event, where they face Naomi Osaka's Japan and the British team captained by Raducanu. The competition takes place across Australian cities in early January, just before the season's first major.
"My main goal next season is to stop worrying over completing bouts," he expressed.
"It provides fantastic feedback to know you had an off-season in good health – I hope it continues. I aim to perform in 2026 and at the United Cup.
"The effort is invested. The most important thing is complete faith that I can return to where I was. I will try all means to make it happen."
