The Greek tennis star Contemplated Walking Away During Injury-Plagued 2025 Season
The athlete entered the previous US Open as the 26th seed.
The tennis professional disclosed he thought about ending his career because of debilitating back issues throughout the 2025 tennis year.
The 27-year-old, who has reached a career-high ranking of world number three, was a finalist against Novak Djokovic at both the 2021 French Open and the 2023 Australian Open.
Currently placed 36th in the world after a limited schedule since his early exit at the US Open this past summer, Tsitsipas indicated that ongoing treatment has begun yielding encouraging progress.
"I'm most excited lies in seeing how my training responds during actual training with regard to my injury," commented Tsitsipas.
"My primary worry was whether I could complete a match," he added, explaining the pain plagued him "over the last half a year or more."
"I kept asking, 'Can I compete in another match without discomfort?'"
"I became truly frightened following the loss in Flushing Meadows [to Germany's Daniel Altmaier]. I could not to move for 48 hours. That is the moment start reconsidering the path ahead."
He also reported satisfaction regarding the present treatment regimen following the completion of five weeks of off-season preparation without any pain.
He is scheduled to compete with the Greek team in the United Cup, drawn against Team Japan led by Osaka and the Great Britain squad captained by Raducanu. The competition takes place in Perth and Sydney in early January, the week preceding the season's first major.
"The greatest victory next season is to not have concerns about finishing matches," he stated.
"It provides fantastic feedback to know you completed a pre-season in good health – I wish for it to last. I want to deliver in 2026 and at the United Cup.
"I have done the work. The most important thing is complete faith that I can return to where I was. I will try all means to achieve that."
