"Start from scratch. Start from zero again and accept where you are right now" - Tsitsipas handed brutal advice to rejuvenate tennis career by former Grand Slam finalist

Former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis has offered Stefanos Tsitsipas some advice which may help him get back to his best, which could involve 'starting from scratch.'

It has been a downward spiral in terms of form for Tsitsipas, who has failed to reach the dizzying heights he once ventured to. The former world number three has made two Grand Slam finals, letting a two-set lead go against Novak Djokovic at the 2021 Roland Garros before losing once more to the Serbian in the 2023 Australian Open. That was just under three years ago, and now it is looking like he will not even be a seed for the upcoming major in Melbourne.

He finished the year as the world number 34. This is the first time his has finished a calendar year outside the top 20 since 2017. It is also the first time he has dropped out of the top 30 in seven years, ending a remarkable consistency streak at the top of tennis. There were periods of the year where he showcased his true colours, winning the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in February. That, however, would be his only ATP Final. He made just one Masters 1000 quarter-final and mustered up just two Grand Slam wins, not making it past the second round in his worst major showing since 2017.

Cyrpus' greatest tennis player, Baghdatis has inspired a generation of tennis players. He reached the Australian Open final in 2006 but was outclassed by Roger Federer. He later reached the Wimbledon semi-final that year as he reached a career high of eight in the world.

He is also someone who Tsitsipas looked up to, previously stating positive remarks about him. “It was great seeing him battle against the great players of his time,” the Greek stated after reaching the 2023 Australian Open final, emulating his feet. “Marcos might not have won a Grand Slam during his career, but he was a great player and I consider him one of my role models.”

This means that he is the perfect player to offer some much-needed advice to the struggling Tsitsipas. “Listen, it’s very hard from the outside when you don’t know what’s going [on] inside, to say what he needs to do. That’s for sure. I think it’s decision-making, mostly. And if he can go back to the level he was; top 10 in the world? Of course he can. I still believe he can," he said in an interview with Tennis365.

“But of course, it’s all the decisions and the things that you need to do to get there that are important. So, it depends on a lot of decisions that he will take in the next few weeks, months. But I think if he takes the right decisions… which, it’s very difficult to say which one."

He went on to use his time and experience as a former professional to aid the precious advice the 27-year-old could do with. “[What] I would suggest from my experience as an ex-professional tennis player, maybe, is to get back to the basics," he advised. "Start from scratch. Start from zero again and accept where you are right now and build up on that.

“And not to think that… when you are top 10 and then you fall down, you always want to feel the same that you felt when you were there or when you played that match, but it’s not possible to feel the same. So you need to accept that and start from scratch and go from zero. Go from the basics and start all over again. And acceptance — I think it’s the key to accept where you are right now and to take it one step at a time.”