"They're hurting him, they need a therapy session" - Tsitsipas family advised by Courier
ATP
Stefanos Tsitsipas battled against Andrey Rublev at the 2022 ATP Finals for a semi-final spot, but things weren't going as he imagined, and his family didn't help, according to Jim Courier.
After winning the first set, the Greek player lost the following two and lost a chance to add another ATP Finals title to his collection.
During some heated moments during the match, Tsitsipas appeared to get into a clash with his family as he also shot a ball in their direction at one point. Four-time Grand Slam champion Jim Courier observed what happened on the court, and suggested that the Greek player's family is too invested in his career.
"My main takeaway from this is a little bit of a feeling of empathy for Stef Tsitsipas. Things that are out of his control are impacting him. His family, they’re so invested in his success."
"They want so much for him, they want to help him from the sidelines, but they’re just hurting him. And it’s hurting his chances to play good tennis."
Courier thinks that Tsitsipas' parents talk to him during the match even when he doesn't want to hear anything, which could impact him negatively.
"You saw how he threw his serve away with two double faults [in the third set]. He got lost in the match when his parents started jawing at each other. I just feel for the kid."
"Because Stef seems like a good guy to me, and he’s said time and time again he doesn’t want the input from the bench. But they give it to him anyway."
The former ATP World No. 1 player didn't forget to emphasize that it's important to notice that all family members want to reach the same goal, and therefore, a family therapy session may help them.
"It seems like they need a therapy session to figure it all out. Because they all want the same. They want their kid to do well, of course they do, but it’s just not working. The way it’s going about right now, it’s hurting him more than it’s helping."
