Stefanos Tsitsipas Contemplated Retirement During Pain-Filled Campaign
Stefanos Tsitsipas was the 26th seed at last year's US Open
Stefanos Tsitsipas has revealed he thought about ending his career due to debilitating spinal pain throughout the season.
The 27-year-old, who has reached a career-high ranking of world number three, was a finalist to Novak Djokovic at both the 2021 French Open alongside the 2023 Australian Open.
Now ranked as the world's 36th best player following minimal competition since his early exit in New York in August, he stated that ongoing treatment has begun yielding encouraging progress.
"My greatest anticipation is to observe how my body holds up under regular practice with regard to my injury," commented Tsitsipas.
"The biggest fear was whether I could complete a match," he added, explaining the pain had troubled him "for the past six to eight months."
"I would wonder, 'Am I able to play another contest pain-free?'"
"It was genuinely scary following the loss in Flushing Meadows [to Germany's Daniel Altmaier]. I was unable to walk for two days. That is the moment begin to question your career's future."
Tsitsipas further mentioned being content with his current recovery plan following the completion of five weeks of pre-season training completely pain-free.
His next appearance with the Greek team in the United Cup, drawn against Team Japan led by Osaka and the British team led by Emma Raducanu. The competition will be held across Australian cities in early January, just before the season's first major.
"My main goal next season would be to stop worrying about finishing matches," he stated.
"It provides fantastic feedback realizing you had an off-season without pain – I hope it continues. I aim to perform during the upcoming season and for the team championship.
"The effort is invested. The most important thing is complete faith that I can return to my previous level. I will try all means to make it happen."
