Stefanos Tsitsipas Contemplated Retirement Amid Injury-Plagued 2025 Season

Stefanos Tsitsipas has revealed he pondered ending his career because of severe back issues throughout the 2025 tennis year.

At 27 years old, the player once ranked as high as third globally, was a finalist to Novak Djokovic in the finals of the 2021 French Open and the 2023 Australian Open.

Currently placed as the world's 36th best player after a limited schedule since his early exit in New York in August, he stated continuous medical care has begun yielding encouraging progress.

"My greatest anticipation lies in seeing how my body responds during actual training concerning my injury," said Tsitsipas.

"My primary worry was whether I was able to finish a match," he added, noting the injury plagued him "over the last half a year or more."

"I kept asking, 'Can I compete another contest pain-free?'"

"I became truly frightened after the defeat at the US Open [to Germany's Daniel Altmaier]. I was unable to walk for 48 hours. That's when you start reconsidering the path ahead."

He also reported being content with the present treatment regimen following the completion of five weeks of off-season preparation completely pain-free.

He is scheduled to compete for Greece in the United Cup, where they face Team Japan led by Osaka and the British team captained by Raducanu. The tournament will be held across Australian cities from 2 to 11 January, the week preceding the season's first major.

"My main goal for 2026 would be to stop worrying about finishing matches," he stated.

"It is incredibly encouraging to know you had a pre-season in good health – I hope it continues. I want to deliver in 2026 and at the United Cup.

"The effort is invested. The crucial element is total belief in my ability to get back to where I was. I will try all means to make it happen."