Stefanos Tsitsipas’ mother has claimed that her son’s short-lived collaboration with Goran Ivanisevic was ‘an illusion’ and she takes ‘the blame for it being the wrong choice.’
In late May, it was announced that Ivanisevic would join the Greek’s team for the grass-court season.
The move came amidst worsening results for Tsitsipas, capped off with a second-round loss at the French Open to Matteo Gigante, which confirmed his exit from the world’s top 20.
Their first event was the Halle Open, where he lost in the second round to Alex Michelsen.
Wimbledon was their next goal, however, Tsitsipas retired in his first match whilst trailing 6-3, 6-2 to Valentin Royer after suffering back pain.
Just two weeks later, the pair announced the end of their on-court relationship as player-coach.
“Goran Ivanisevic’s history as a coach begins and ends with a player named Novak Djokovic. He completely lost himself in him,” the Greek’s mother said during an interview with Sports Russa.
“I saw it. It shocked me. He treated Djokovic as a dear person who needed all-around support. Ivanisevic was ready to do anything for Djokovic, willing to fulfil any whim.
“And that won me over. It turned out to be an illusion. Observing this relationship, I naively assumed it could be the same with the next player.
“But such love happens once in a lifetime; no one can repeat it. There was no way to buy into this.
“It was my idea. I didn’t just advise him, I insisted.
“I take full responsibility for it. I take the blame for it being the wrong choice.
“After all, even the team that worked with Stefanos before he started working with Ivanisevic was more helpful to him.”
Indeed, Ivanisevic was a head coach for Novak Djokovic from 2019 until 2024, collecting nine Grand Slams and three year-end No 1 finishes.
Prior to the successful pairing, the Croat had also coached Marin Cilic to victory at the 2014 US Open, as well as Tomas Berdych from 2016-2017, and Milos Raonic from 2018-2019.
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However, after Tsitsipas retired at Wimbledon, the 2001 Wimbledon champion made his disapproval of the Greek’s lack of physical preparation publicly clear.
“It’s simple and it’s not easy,” Ivanisevic told Sport Klub in July.
“I’ve talked to him many times. If he solves some things outside of tennis, then he has a chance and he’ll return to where he belongs, because he’s too good a player to be out of the top 10.
“He wants to, but he doesn’t do anything. All, ‘I want, I want’, but I don’t see any progress. I was shocked, I’ve never seen a more unprepared player in my life.
“With this knee, I’m three times more prepared than him. This is really bad.”
It was soon after the interview made the social media rounds that the pair split, with the Croat acknowledging that his comments may have ‘affected’ the two-time Grand Slam champion.
“Well, it affected him a little because every tennis player, every athlete, when their ego gets a little inflated, doesn’t like criticism,” the Croatian told Gol.
“Anyway, I told him: tennis is an individual sport. To play on the court, you have to be physically and mentally prepared. He wasn’t mentally or physically prepared at Wimbledon.
“Back problems, a million problems. So it’s a long road, there’s no magic wand, no magic tricks, you have to work. He’s too good a player to be where he is.”
In August, Tsitsipas announced that he was reuniting with his father just 12 months after they officially split as player-coach.
Currently, the Greek sits as the world No 34 – his lowest year-end ranking since 2017.
