Stefanos Tsitsipas Seriously Considered Walking Away During Injury-Plagued 2025 Season
The athlete entered the previous US Open as the 26th seed.
Stefanos Tsitsipas has revealed he thought about ending his career because of severe back issues throughout the 2025 tennis year.
The 27-year-old, who has reached a career-high ranking of world number three, finished as runner-up to Novak Djokovic at both the 2021 French Open and the 2023 Australian Open.
Now ranked 36th in the world after a limited schedule post a early exit in New York in August, he stated that ongoing treatment has begun yielding encouraging progress.
"My greatest anticipation is to observe how my training responds during actual training concerning my back," said Tsitsipas.
"My primary worry was whether I could complete a match," he added, explaining the pain plagued him "for the past six to eight months."
"I kept asking, 'Can I compete another contest pain-free?'"
"It was genuinely scary after the defeat at the US Open [to Germany's Daniel Altmaier]. I was unable to walk for 48 hours. That's when you start reconsidering your career's future."
Tsitsipas further mentioned satisfaction regarding his current recovery plan following the completion of 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 Team Japan led by Osaka and the British team led by Emma Raducanu. The tournament will be held across Australian cities in early January, the week preceding the Australian Open.
"The greatest victory next season is to stop worrying over completing bouts," he stated.
"It provides fantastic feedback to know you completed an off-season without pain – I hope it continues. I aim to perform during the upcoming season and for the United Cup.
"I have done the work. The crucial element is total belief that I can return to my previous level. I will try all means to achieve that."