The Greek tennis star Seriously Considered Walking Away Amid Pain-Filled Campaign
The athlete entered the previous US Open as the 26th seed.
Stefanos Tsitsipas has revealed he thought about quitting the sport because of debilitating spinal pain during the 2025 tennis year.
At 27 years old, the player once ranked as high as third globally, was a finalist to Novak Djokovic in the finals of the 2021 French Open alongside 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 in August, Tsitsipas indicated continuous medical care is finally showing encouraging progress.
"I'm most excited is to observe how my training responds during actual training with regard to my back," said Tsitsipas.
"My primary worry centered on if I could complete an encounter," he added, explaining the pain plagued him "for the past half a year or more."
"I kept asking, 'Am I able to play another contest without discomfort?'"
"I became truly frightened after the defeat in Flushing Meadows [to Germany's Daniel Altmaier]. I was unable to move for 48 hours. That is the moment begin to question the path ahead."
He also reported satisfaction regarding the present treatment regimen following the completion of five weeks of off-season preparation completely pain-free.
His next appearance for Greece at the team event, drawn against Team Japan led by Osaka and the Great Britain squad led by Emma Raducanu. The competition will be held across Australian cities from 2 to 11 January, the week preceding the Australian Open.
"The greatest victory for 2026 is to not have concerns over completing bouts," he expressed.
"It provides fantastic feedback realizing you had a pre-season without pain – I wish for it to last. I aim to perform during the upcoming season and for the United Cup.
"I have done the work. The most important thing is complete faith in my ability to get back to where I was. I will try all means to achieve that."
