Wimbledon: Cyprus’ greatest tennis player of all time believes Goran Ivanisevic isn’t wrong when it comes to talking about Stefanos Tsitsipas. Although he would have used a different way to convey the message.
Marcos Baghdatis was an idol for world No.26 Tsitsipas growing up. The Greek Cypriot peaked at a high of No.8 during his career and made the final of the 2006 Australian Open. Overall, he won four ATP titles and reached the final of another 10 events on the Tour.
Now, at the age of 40, Baghdatis has returned to Wimbledon to play in the legends event this week. It was at the All England Club where he spoke about Tsitsipas’ current struggles on the Tour. The Greek hasn’t won back-to-back matches since the Barcelona Open in April and was forced to retire from his opening match at Wimbledon. Shortly after, he gave a concerning outlook about his future in the sport and admitted for the first time that the next year will be crucial in deciding if he will continue playing or not because of a long-time back injury.
“We can see that some decisions that he took in the last two years are coming bad for him. But for him, in a way, he’s lost his way a bit,” Baghdatis told Ubitennis.
“I think it’s unfortunate, but I am pretty sure that he will find a way to bounce back, even though he said some things after the loss in Wimbledon.
“He’s doubting himself right now, which is normal when you’re lost.
“But I think he didn’t mean every word he said. And I think he will find a way to bounce back.”
Physical struggles are something Baghdatis is all too familiar with. Whilst he achieved numerous milestones for his country on the Tour, he was also affected by injury during chunks of his career. Knee, elbow and ankle problems had all troubled him at some stage.
When looking back on the difficult moments of his career, Baghdatis believes the best thing for Tsitsipas to do at the moment is to have a timeout to regroup.
“I think you take some time out, some time to reflect, some time to find the right team, not to rush into decisions,” he explains.
“What I did and it helped me a lot was travel alone for a couple of tournaments just to find myself back on the tennis court, not to have somebody telling me what to do to find my own way.
“Start taking decisions on what you need, like what your career needs, what your tennis needs, and not what you as a person need. I think that’s very crucial. That’s very important.”
“If I were to give him advice, that’s what I would give him and take his time to decide the future.”
In his eyes, the key for Tsitsipas is stepping back and returning to basics. However, there is a complication to this.
The role of Ivanisevic
When Goran Ivanisevic was brought into the Tsitsipas’ team, there was excitement and high hopes. A former Wimbledon champion, he established himself as a top coach on the Tour through his high-profile work with Novak Djokovic. The Croat has also previously mentored Marin Cilic, Tomas Berdych, Milos Raonic and very briefly Elena Rybakina.
Ivanisevic is somebody who is not afraid to speak his mind, which has recently generated a lot of attention after he shared his true views about the current state of Tsitsipas’ fitness.
“I told him not to play tennis right now. He needs to fix his back and get physically fit because physically — he’s a disaster,” Ivanisevic said during an interview with Clay magazine.
“I can’t understand how a player of his level can be so unfit. After that, he can think about playing tennis again.
“There are things I can explain to him and connect with him because I felt that way too when I fell to 128 in the world. He’s 26th — that’s a big difference. But I didn’t have off-court issues, I made my own problems.”
The most interesting aspect of the comments is that Ivaisevic isn’t afraid to speak so frankly about his player after being with him for less than six months. Although the two would have been acquainted with each other beforehand.
As for Baghdatis’ stance on the matter, he doesn’t dispute these remarks. However, if it were him, he would have been more cautious about saying them.
“I’m not saying what Goran said in his interviews is not right. 99% of what he said, I’m pretty sure he’s right because I know Goran. I know he’s a great guy, he says things as they are and as he sees them.” Baghdatis said of Ivanisevic.
“But me personally, if I were coaching, I wouldn’t go out there and say this in the media. I would tell it to the team and I would tell it to Stefanos himself. Then, if he doesn’t want to listen, I would part ways and that’s it. “o the media and say that, I wouldn’t do that.”
Regardless of which approach is the best to do, Baghdatis believes the most important thing is to issue Tsitsipas a stern wake-up call. Whatever method is required, he will support it.
“The most important thing is to find a way to shock Stefanos, to get him back to where we all want to see him, especially me as a Cypriot Greek,” he said.
“Maybe Goran’s way is the way. I hope the way that Goran took things into his hands will help Stefanos and it will shock Stefanos in a way to come back.
“What I want is to go around to Stefanos to be back where he belongs and find the love of the game again.”
