Apostolos Tsitsipas is not with his son Stefanos Tsitsipas at the 2023 Canadian Open, and the Greek player explained why that is ahead of the ATP 1000 event.
Stefanos Tsitsipas is back to working with Mark Philippoussis, even though they split not long ago before getting back together. The decision to part ways with the Australian coach surprised many because it seemed like he had a really positive influence on him. For all of his career, Tsitsipas has been primarily coached by his father Apostolos, a dynamic that some questioned, but not him.
We've seen players opt against having close family members in the team, and some suggested it would benefit Tsitsipas as well. Well, we have it, kind of. His father is 'on holiday' for the first time since Tsitsipas was 12 years old.
My father right now, you know, I give him some time off. He hasn't had time off since I'm 12 years old. So I think for him, I think it's very healthy to take some time away from the court and feel refreshed again.
And, of course, I love him and I want him to be part of that journey that we have built together, and he's not going anywhere. He's still with us, and he's still there following our path and journey.
Tsitsipas wouldn't really confirm whether this new setup would be permanent and for how long, but it does seem that internal changes happened. His wording was careful yet clear enough to make you realize that he wanted some things to change, especially as he described his career as stagnant.
But for me, it's a time, you know, to keep exploring new things. And I'm open-minded and I want to learn as much as I can and, as I mentioned earlier, to maximize on my career because I have felt at times stagnant.
Whether this means that Apostolos is going to take a permanent backseat remains to be seen but it's an interesting new chapter for Tsitsipas. He described this new setup as peaceful as things got really emotional a couple of times this year.
You know, parents can get emotional sometimes, and I completely understand that. I'm not a parent myself, but I can imagine how difficult it can be at times seeing your child give it their all and to be going through so much during a match.
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