Stefanos Tsitsipas has spoken about his working relationship with father and coach Apostolos, stating that he is still the right coach for him despite some stress.
World No. 5 Tsitsipas has been coached primarily by his father since he was twelve years old, and in that time they have been through many highs and lows together. Apostolos has seen his son reach incredible heights, such as making the final of the 2021
Roland Garros and the 2023
Australian Open.
However, the pair's professional relationship has not always been plain sailing. At points in the past, they have not got along well on the court - most notably in 2020, when Tsitsipas accidentally hit his father with his racket during an outburst at the
ATP Cup.
Tsitsipas urged to have other people at matches
The tension between the father and son has sometimes boiled over to the point that fans have urged Tsitsipas to have a greater variety of voices in his player box during matches. Although when the Greek player invited his mother Julia Apostoli to sit with his team, things were still difficult.
This ultimately resulted in the 24-year-old requesting that his mother be removed from the player's box after things got too confrontational.
Insists there's no need for change
Despite the anger seen on the court at times, Tsitsipas insists that the working dynamic he has with his father is productive. Speaking at the
Los Cabos Open, where he is the top-seeded player, he talked of how their different perspectives are not a barrier to them working well together,
"The more I go older it represents more challenges to me to train with my dad. He is the right person for me (to train me). We have different point of views, but he gives me different perspectives. It’s stressful at times," he said.
This statement comes after the recent announcement that Tsitsipas is rehiring his former coach Mark Philippoussis to work alongside Apostolos, hopefully creating a healthier environment with less stress involved.