Stefanos Tsitsipas’ recent struggles on the Tour are continuing after he decided to pull out of his country’s upcoming Davis Cup tie.
The world No.11 issued a statement on Thursday confirming that he is currently struggling with a back injury that he picked up at the US Open. Tsitsipas’ withdrawal is a huge blow for Greece who will face Serbia away in their World Group I stage tie. 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic has been named in the Serbian squad but there has been no official confirmation about what his participation will be yet.
“The voice of my heart advised me to strengthen the National team once more. However, the voice of my body forcefully forbids me from competing in the Davis Cup match with Serbia.” Tsitsipas said in a statement published by SDNA.
“The back injury I received from participating in the US Open requires me to follow a special rehabilitation program in order to recover on the courts as soon as possible.
“It is with great regret that I announce my decision not to compete next week in Belgrade.”
Tsitsipas’ injury setback comes during what has been a rollercoaster past few weeks. Since playing in the Olympic Games, he has only won one out of four matches played on the Tour. He has removed his father Apostolos as coach after publicly criticizing him at the Canadian Masters which he later apologized for doing. Then at the US Open, he suffered a first round loss to Thanasi Kokkinakis in what was his earliest exit from a major event for two years.
Speaking to reporters after his US Open defeat, the 26-year-old indicated that he is at a crisis point in his career and has been coping with a slow burnout in recent months. On top of that, there is still no public confirmation about if he has hired a new permanent coach. In New York, he was working with national Davis Cup captain Dimitris Chatzinikolaou
“I’m nothing compared to the player I was before,” Tsitsipas told reporters.
“I remember myself playing when I was younger, playing with adrenaline on the court, feeling like my life depends on the match. And these things, I feel like they have faded off, and let’s say my level of consistency hasn’t been as big.
“I remember my concentration used to be at its highest, at its peak, back then, and that’s something that I felt has dropped a little bit. I know it sounds strange, but I feel like I need the hunger to reproduce the hunger I had back then. And I’m not a person that feels alright or settles for normal stuff. Like, I really want to regenerate it and bring it back because it brought a lot of joy to my tennis when I was able to feel that way on the court. I really don’t know why it has dropped thelast couple of months. I would even consider it like one to two years I’ve been feeling that way. I guess I was just able to hide it a bit better and put it to the side a bit more.”
Tsitsipas is scheduled to return to action later this month at the Laver Cup in Germany.
