"It's easy, behind the television, to say: 'He doesn't do this well, he should play like that'" – No more excuses for Stefanos Tsitsipas as new coach slams critics

Stefanos Tsitsipas should be enjoying the best years of his tennis career, but instead the 27-year-old is looking to work his way back up the ATP Rankings to where he was. A harsh reality check meets him at the Canadian Open as he is forced to go through qualifying to get into the main draw. This rebuilding process is now with a different coach in the form of Thomas Perrin who has full belief in the Greek to make a return to the elite.

Tsitsipas has endured a rocky relationship with his father, Apostolos, who coached him throughout his youth and much of his professional tennis career. A parent-child coaching partnership can have its difficulties, and that has been the case in the past with the two of them.

They split in 2024 with Dimitris Chatzinikolaou and Goran Ivanisevic having stints alongside the two-time Grand Slam finalist. As his results turned more negative, he was on the receiving end of some brutal criticism from Ivanisevic.

His plummet down the rankings would continue even when he got his father back into his camp. However, their latest split was confirmed ahead of Wimbledon. Going into the third Grand Slam of the year, he had Perrin by his side. The Frenchman has been part of the Mouratoglou Academy system for a long period of time. He will be taking more responsibilities alongside Tsitsipas with Patrick Mouratoglou overviewing the relationship.

Perrin travels with Tsitsipas to Montreal with the Canadian Open in their sights. Tsitsipas reached the final back in 2018, his first ever Masters 1000 final as Rafael Nadal defeated him in straight sets. He has failed to get past the second round in his prior four tournaments.

The number one seed was qualifying, but came through it successfully. He took down home favourite Keegan Rice 6-3, 6-4 to confirm his spot in the main draw. He will take on Martin Damm Jr to in the first round of the Canadian Open. Perrin had his back and believed that he could rise back up the order.

"He really has the will to get back to the highest level, and I 100% believe he can do it, otherwise I wouldn't be here," he admitted. "He is committed, receptive, and physically, his back is fine. There are many things to put back in place gradually, and that's what we're working on."

A third consecutive Grand Slam second round loss was when Tsitsipas reached his limit. Perrin spoke how the 2019 ATP Finals champion took his future into his own hands, reviewing his sporting project before splitting with his father.

In came Perrin in a bold but possibly much-needed move. "After Roland-Garros, Stefanos took time for himself to think about how he sees his future," he recalled. "What came out of it is that he really wants to move on to something different, with a new team and a new project.

"The fact of separating professionally from his father is a decision he thought through carefully. He no longer has any questions about it. He wanted to take his career back into his own hands, and that's done. Mentally, he is very motivated."

Tsitsipas rolled back the years at the Swiss Open in Gstaad. He fought his way into the final where he secured a first ATP title for over a year with a three-set win against Raphael Collignon. It was a huge step in the right direction, but there is still a lot of work to do.

His play on court and technique has come under a huge amount of criticism by tennis fans and pundits. Perrin acknowledged it is easy to say that at a first glance, but it stems deeper than that. "Before starting any projects, you have to get to know and understand the person," he said. "It's easy, behind the television, to say: 'He doesn't do this well, he should play like that.'

"But it's another thing to try to understand the reasons that prevent the player from doing better. Afterwards, we will obviously rely on his strengths, especially the serve and forehand, which worked very well in Gstaad. Finding his baseline game again will help him regain confidence and set up other areas of work."

One of the main talking points is the one-handed backhand. However, that shot does not seem to be going anywhere. "When you've been a former top player and you're struggling to get back to your level, anyone in his situation would have sunk into a bit of distress," he commented.

"Against someone who is struggling, it's easy to highlight their weaknesses. But Stefanos is not going to switch to a two-handed backhand just because some people think it's over. We are thinking about how to optimize his backhand, especially through the use of the slice. But the priority remains to give him a clear direction, based on his strengths, and to stick to it regardless of the score."

Perrin also emphasised the need for Tsitsipas to fix up his attitude. That has been another noted problem in his game both on and off the court.

"What I really expect from him is to see a fighter on the court in all circumstances," he said. "In Gstaad, we had a good discussion after his match against Arthur Rinderknech, where he tended to complain a lot. Then he recovered well. If he continues in this direction, the rest will follow.

"There will be difficulties, for sure. But it's no longer time to look for excuses. It's time to find solutions. Because I'm convinced his tennis is still there."