Stefanos Tsitsipas officially ends his season after withdrawal from Athens Open

Stefanos Tsitsipas's very challenging 2025 came to an end when he withdrew from the 2025 Athens Open.

The two-time Grand Slam runner-up has not competed at an ATP tournament since losing in the 2025 US Open second round against Daniel Altmaier. He led after three sets, but ended up suffering a surprising defeat.

Before that, Tsitsipas retired from his opening round match at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships after his chronic lower back injury flared up. That issue has plagued the Greek ATP No. 1 for a few years.

Goran Ivanisevic, who was briefly Tsitsipas's coach at that time, brutally claimed that he was in better shape than the 27-year-old, and also slammed his mentality. Unsurprisingly, they parted ways soon after those comments.

Tsitsipas's only appearance since the US Open was at the 2025 Six Kings Slam. Although he played only one match, he received a $1.5 million appearance fee just for showing up in Riyadh for the exhibition.

Many fans reacted cynically to Tsitsipas's playing at the Six Kings Slam, but in no other tournaments since the US Open, suspecting he was not fully fit but just wanted to secure the significant paycheck on offer.

Jack Draper was initially in the Six Kings Slam lineup, but withdrew and ended his season early because of an arm injury. Tsitsipas replaced him, which surprised some since he has endured a difficult season.

The 2021 French Open finalist withdrew from the ongoing 2025 Paris Masters without directly giving a reason. He mentioned the support always provided by the Parisian fans and regretted not being able to play.

After previous withdrawals from the Shanghai Masters and Vienna Open because of injury issues, Tsitsipas might have assumed that fans knew he could not play in Paris for a physical reason, making an explanation redundant.

Tsitsipas was on the entry list for the inaugural Athens Open held in his home country. It replaces the Belgrade Open, which moved to Athens amid reports of tension between Novak Djokovic and the Serbian government.

Djokovic and his family own the tournament license, and the 24-time Grand Slam champion is on the entry list despite his brother recently giving a worrying update about the tennis legend's fitness.

Tsitsipas would have been the second most significant draw for the Greek fans. They have undoubtedly been left very disappointed by his withdrawal from the tournament in Athens. No official explanation for the move has been given yet.

Although the former ATP Finals winner may be devastated to miss a tournament held on home soil, taking some time away from tennis and regrouping might be good for a man who has been far from his level from a few years ago.

In the ATP live rankings, Tsitsipas dropped out of the Top 30 for the first time in over seven years. Taking time during the off-season to get fitter and stronger and rebuild his confidence could be indispensable.

Tsitsipas's withdrawal means fans will be even more desperate for Novak Djokovic to be fit for the tournament's maiden edition.