Public Relationship, Temporary Coach Change: How 2023 Shaped Stefanos Tsitsipas

Friday, 17 November 2023 at 18:00

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bySebastian Dahlman

Stefanos Tsitsipas seemingly had a less successful year in 2023, but former ATP player Jim Courier actually thinks it was a year of growth for the Greek player.

If you compare the 2022 and the 2023 campaigns of Stefanos Tsitsipas, you'll probably see a downward trend. He finished last year with 64 wins and 25 losses, while he finished this year with 52 wins and 25 losses. He played in 7 finals last year, winning two.

He played in only three finals this year, winning only one, so again, it seems like a worse year, which can be disappointing for the Greek. He should be trending upward at this stage of his career, but former player Jim Courier, who talked to the Tennis Channel, actually thinks it's been a good experience for him - growing pains.

It was a year of growth is the way that I would kind of pinpoint this one for Steph [Tsitsipas]. He went through a lot this year. You know, he seemingly fell in love publicly for the first time [with girlfriend, Paula Badosa]. He got rid of his father as a coach for a minute and brought in Mark Philippoussis. And then that didn't seem to pan out. And he went back to dad. He won a doubles title with his brother, which was a magical moment. So there was a lot of emotional highs and lows here.

— Courier sums up Tsitsipas' year<br>

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The Greek actually started really well by making it to the Australian Open final but couldn't overcome Novak Djokovic. That result tops anything he did last year because he didn't make a final last year, not even close. He couldn't replicate that same level later, but he did go a level above what he previously played, so it's there.

The Australian Open, certainly a great start to the season. And then he had some dips from a playing standpoint, and this is disappointing to see him have to suffer physically and not be able to finish the year strong, but his assets are in place. He's got a great game. He's an incredible athlete. And I think that there's going to be more maturity in him next year as a result of everything he went through, which is part of the human experience.

— Courier on his game<br>

There are some big issues in his game that obviously hinder him. Those are some of the things Courier wants to see him improve.

Yeah. And when he gets on this front foot, he is as good as anybody. He takes that forehand early and you just go, Oh, it looks just like what [Roger] Federer used to do to players. And he gets in and he's solid at the net, the return to serve on the backhand, the slice on the backhand. Those are areas for him to look at and to improve. And they're exploitable at the moment.