Fans feel Stefanos Tsitsipas’ parents are a blessing in disguise for his professional career. Both mother and father, Julia Apostoli and Apostolos Tsitsipas, are former tennis players and have made an immense contribution to the Greek star’s rise in tennis.
However, over the last year or so, Tsitsipas has been nowhere near his best. Many have suggested that he needs to split with his father as his coach.
Tsitsipas is currently preparing for the Rome Masters after facing a defeat against Casper Ruud in the Round of 16 at Madrid. A video of him training with his parents is doing the rounds on the internet. Julia could be seen giving out instructions. However, Apostolos shuts her down and asks Julia to leave her son alone.
With both father and mother on the court coaching Tsitsipas, fans think it might not be a nice thing to have.
“Genuinely feel sorry for him. Clearly has very controlling parents & they seem to have a toxic relationship which makes it impossible for both parties to let go,” one fan wrote.
“This is why he’s about to be world #156,” another fan commented.
“He needs to fire his parents and get a proper coach sbsbsb like they’ll forgive him later. Best get it over with,” one fan remarked.
“Yeah, well, but you guys seem like you’re talking about a junior and not about a 27-year-old guy who can perfectly well make decisions about his professional career and decide if he wants to stay or not with the team that, for the most part, is where it is because of him too,” one fan wrote.
“Narrative that parents can’t coach their kids in tennis needs to end. Yes, emotions can complicate things, but they’re the ones who sacrificed everything and lived every step of the journey. Somewhere along the way, they learned too. Tennis isn’t as complicated as we make it,” one fan shared a different perspective.
Stefanos Tsitsipas Reunited With Father Apostolos Tsitsipas as Coach
Former World No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas has slipped to No. 66 in the rankings. The last time he won an ATP tournament was in Feb. 2025, when he won the Rotterdam Open. Since then, he has made several coaching changes before reuniting with his father, Apostolos.
In May last year, the Greek star hired 2003 Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic. But the partnership didn’t last long, more than a few months, as the Croatian criticized Tsitsipas’ work ethic.
As a result, Tsitsipas returned to his father, who coached him from 2004 until 2021. On his reunion with his father, the Greek star said:
“He [Apostolos] definitely made me lose my control, my inner control as well. But we’ve talked a lot. Since then, we’ve spent a lot of weeks together. He’s been on a tour occasionally here and there, not as my coach, but as my father. I think I have to be strict with him. Sometimes I feel like he wants to do too many things on his own.”
Apostolos has been his son’s primary coach for most of his life. He even formally studied coaching to better train his children. The two have had multiple disagreements but the reunion suggests Tsitsipas believes in his father’s ability to get back to his best version.
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