🔗 Share this article

Stefanos Tsitsipas has revealed he pondered ending his career due to debilitating spinal pain during the 2025 tennis year.

At 27 years old, the player once ranked as high as third globally, was a finalist against Novak Djokovic in the finals of the 2021 French Open alongside the 2023 Australian Open.

Now ranked as the world's 36th best player following minimal competition post a second-round departure at the US Open this past summer, Tsitsipas indicated that ongoing treatment is finally showing encouraging progress.

"I'm most excited is to observe how my training holds up under actual training concerning my injury," commented Tsitsipas.

"My primary worry was whether I was able to finish an encounter," he added, noting the injury had troubled him "for the past half a year or more."

"I kept asking, 'Can I compete another contest pain-free?'"

"It was genuinely scary after the defeat in Flushing Meadows [to Germany's Daniel Altmaier]. I was unable to walk for 48 hours. That is the moment start reconsidering your career's future."

Tsitsipas further mentioned satisfaction regarding the present treatment regimen after finishing an extended period of off-season preparation completely pain-free.

He is scheduled to compete for Greece in the United Cup, drawn against Team Japan led by Osaka and the British team captained by Raducanu. The competition will be held across Australian cities in early January, just before the Australian Open.

"My main goal next season would be to not have concerns over completing bouts," he expressed.

"It is incredibly encouraging to know you completed an off-season without pain – I wish for it to last. I want to deliver during the upcoming season and for the team championship.

"The effort is invested. The crucial element is total belief that I can return to where I was. I will try all means to achieve that."