The Greek tennis star Contemplated Retirement Amid Injury-Plagued Campaign
Stefanos Tsitsipas was the 26th seed at last year's US Open
The tennis professional disclosed he pondered ending his career due to debilitating back issues during the season.
The 27-year-old, who has reached a career-high ranking of world number three, finished as runner-up against Novak Djokovic at both the 2021 French Open and the 2023 Australian Open.
Now ranked as the world's 36th best player after a limited schedule since his second-round departure at the US Open this past summer, Tsitsipas indicated that ongoing treatment has begun yielding encouraging progress.
"My greatest anticipation is to observe how my body responds during regular practice with regard to my injury," commented Tsitsipas.
"My primary worry was whether I could complete a match," the athlete continued, noting the injury had troubled him "over the last half a year or more."
"I would wonder, 'Can I compete another contest pain-free?'"
"I became truly frightened after the defeat at the US Open [to Germany's Daniel Altmaier]. I was unable to move for 48 hours. That's when you begin to question the path ahead."
Tsitsipas further mentioned being content with his current recovery plan after finishing five weeks of pre-season training completely pain-free.
His next appearance for Greece at the team event, drawn against Naomi Osaka's Japan and the British team led by Emma Raducanu. The tournament will be held across Australian cities in early January, just before the season's first major.
"The greatest victory for 2026 would be to not have concerns about finishing matches," he stated.
"It provides fantastic feedback to know you completed a pre-season without pain – I hope it continues. I aim to perform during the upcoming season and for the team championship.
"I have done the work. The most important thing is complete faith that I can return to where I was. I will try all means to make it happen."
