Stefanos Tsitsipas has enlisted the help of Greece’s Davis Cup captain for the upcoming US Open after removing his father as a coach.
The world No.11 will work alongside Dimitris Chatzinikolaou during this week’s Cincinnati Open and the US Open withthe possibility of their collaboration lasting longer, according to SDNA. In the past, Tsitsipas has spoken about the support he has received from his compatriot at numerous points in his career, including during last year’s Wimbledon Championships where he received some help with the mental side of his game.
It has been reported that the new collaboration will get a seal of approval from Tsitsipas’ family who trust Chatzinikolaou and his abilities. Although there is yet to be any public comment on the new setup yet. He also runs the Chatzinikolaou Tennis Academy which is high performance academy based in Athens.
Tsitsipas announced that his father Apostolos will no longer be his coach after recently questioning his tactics. At the Canadian Open, he crashed out in three sets to Kei Nishikori and later put some of the blame on Apostolos.
“It has been a poor performance from my father and it’s not the first time,” he told reporters in Montreal.“I’m disappointed with him.
“The most important thing is to have good direct feedback, the coach needs to listen. The player is the one holding the racquet.
“I have power here to some degree but it should be a collaborative effort on both sides, for me to develop my tennis.”
A day after those remarks, the 26-year-old issued a statement on social media confirming the ending of his coaching partnership with Apostolos and also apologized for the comments he made.
“It is with a heavy heart that I inform you that my collaboration with my father as a coach has come to an end. I prefer to keep my father in his role as a father, and only as a father.” He wrote on X.
Tsitsipas heads into the Cincinnati Masters with a win-loss record of 35-15 so far this season. Since January, he has won one tournament which was the Monte Carlo Masters. He was also runner-up at the Barcelona Open.
His next match is scheduled to be against Jan-Lennard Struff.
