LONDON: Stefanos Tsitsipas admits he is at a loss about what to do next after he was forced to withdraw from his first round match at Wimbledon due to a flare-up of an existing back problem.
The Greek struggled with his movement on the court when playing French qualifier Valentin Royer and was forced to call it quits when down 6-3, 6-2. It is the first time in Tsitsipas’ career that he has been unable to complete a Grand Slam match. However, earlier this year he also retired from a match at the Barcelona Open due to his back.
“I’m battling many wars these days. It’s really painful to see myself in a situation like this,” a bitterly disappointed Tsitsipas said on Monday.
“One thing that I absolutely hate doing is retiring or stopping a match, but I’ve never pictured myself being in a situation like this multiple times since the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin a couple of years back.
“Since that time, I’ve been very fragile with my body, and I’ve been battling a war of feeling healthy and feeling comfortable going to the extremes, which has been a difficult battle. So I really don’t know.”
Tsitsipas, who has won 12 ATP titles during his career, said he had no warning signs that something was wrong heading into Wimbledon. Something that makes the latest setback harder to deal with.
“I feel like I’m left without answers. I’ve tried everything. I’ve done an incredible job with my fitness. I’ve done an incredible job with my physiotherapy, so I’ve maximized everything that I possibly can do. Right now I’m just absolutely left with no answers. I don’t know what to do.” He continued.
Trying to seek a solution, Tsitsipas is adamant that surgery is not a viable option because ‘the damage has already been done.’ Another possible option is a break from the sport. Something he is more open to.
“I have a limit at some point, so I’ll definitely have to have my final answer on whether I want to do stuff or not in the next couple of months,” he commented.
“This is going to be hard, but if I see it going in that trajectory, there is no point in competing. If I’m not healthy, and I’ve talked about health so many times, if health is not there, then your whole tennis life becomes miserable.”
