By Erik Gudris | @atntennis | Monday, January 13, 2025
Photo credit: Graham Denholm/Getty
2025 is only a week and half old, but it still looks and feels like 2024 for Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The 26-year-old Greek found himself exiting the first round of a Grand Slam for the second consecutive time in a row. This time at the Australian Open to American Alex Michelsen on Sunday 5-7, 3-6, 6-2, 4-6.
Now with time on his hands to ponder this loss, Tsitsipas must feel like his career is at a crossroads. That’s despite the fact that only a few years ago, he was on the verge of becoming World No. 1 and looked poised to win multiple major titles.
Is the game changing too fast for Tsitsipas to keep up? Is Tsitsipas changing how he views the game? For him, it’s both.
“Yeah, for sure I had a fresher mind back then. It seemed like I was hungrier in a completely different way than I am now, Tsitsipas said in his post-match press conference. “I would definitely say that one thing that stood out the most back then is that I had this hunger to try and make a life out of tennis and to try to have a good beginning in my tennis career and my tennis journey. It's different than it is now."
“I would actually say that I'm a better player now than I was back then. So even though I'm losing now and I'm not at my best, I feel like I'm much better as a player than back then where I felt like my shots were not as heavy in terms of topspin. I was playing much more flat and much more through the court."
“I feel like such thing now wouldn't work as effectively as it did back then.”
Now currently ranked No. 12 in the world, Tsitsipas rose as high as No. 3 back in 2021. A two-time major finalist, including at Melbourne just as recent as 2023, Tsitsipas was part of the unofficial “Next Gen Now” generation of players that appeared ready to take over from the “Big Three.”
That included Dominic Thiem, who won his only major, the US Open in 2020, and has since retired, along with Alexander Zverev, now at World No. 2 who is still very much in the mix to win his first major. Tsitsipas is still waiting to do that. But now it’s not the “Big Three” that Tsitsipas, and others on the tour, have to contend with, but now “The New Wave” in Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz who are already multiple major title holders.
Add in a rising crop of younger players who are hitting the ball much bigger than players just a few years ago, and many, including Tsitsipas, wonder where he will fit in amid this sea change in the game.
It's probably not a surprise then that Tsitsipas has a certain fondness for “the good old days.”
“When I came around in 2018, the game was very different to what it is now. It wasn't as physical. I've had wins over Novak (Djokovic), and I felt like I played well, and I didn't have to kind of exceed the most extreme version of myself in that particular match," Tsitsipas said.
“I remember it quite fondly and intensely. The game has shifted more towards a physical game. I feel like the margins become smaller, meaning that you're not getting as many free points. I feel like innovation has stepped in and allowed players to serve even bigger than before. I definitely put emphasis on that."
“When I played years ago, I felt like it was less powerful in general, the game. It was still physical, but it was not as big as it is now. So I do feel like power has taken over, meaning that everyone can hit hard now. You just have to be precise as well, combine those two, and you have the ultimate player.”
In 2024, Tsitsipas achieved consistent results, but nothing to suggest that he would be a factor at the majors that year. He also endured continued criticism about his backhand, especially on his return, that many feel is no longer effective as it once was, and it’s now an open secret on the tour for players to serve as much as possible to that wing.
On top of that, Tsitsipas went through a very vocal and public breakup with his long-time coach and father Apostolos after an opening round loss in Montreal to Kei Nishikori that again raised questions on where Tsitsipas’ career was headed.
What happens this season with the popular Greek who tends to weigh each win or loss through a personal philosophical lens, will be fascinating to watch. Especially on how he will try and find a way to rise upwards from this recent plateau.
But for Tsitsipas, he’d rather be playing than waiting around for the next event.
“The most frustrating part about losing in the first round of a Grand Slam is that you have way too much time to recover, and I would rather have the other way around where I don't have enough time to recover," Tsitsipas said. "Honestly that's much, much better in terms of problem-solving.
"It just sucks in a way that I'll be around, hanging around, for quite a while now before my next tournament comes in. With my competitive nature, I feel like these type of things are not really ideal for me.”