The Greek tennis star Contemplated Retirement During Injury-Plagued 2025 Season
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 throughout the season.
At 27 years old, the player once ranked as high as third globally, finished as runner-up against Novak Djokovic at both the 2021 French Open alongside the 2023 Australian Open.
Currently placed as the world's 36th best player following minimal competition post a early exit at the US Open in August, Tsitsipas indicated that ongoing treatment has begun yielding encouraging progress.
"I'm most excited lies in seeing how my training responds during actual training with regard to my injury," said Tsitsipas.
"The biggest fear was whether I could complete a match," the athlete continued, noting the injury plagued him "for the past six to eight months."
"I would wonder, 'Can I compete in another match without discomfort?'"
"I became truly frightened following the loss in Flushing Meadows [to Germany's Daniel Altmaier]. I could not to move for 48 hours. That is the moment begin to question your career's future."
He also reported being content with the present treatment regimen after finishing five weeks of off-season preparation completely pain-free.
He is scheduled to compete for Greece at the team event, where they face Naomi Osaka's Japan and the Great Britain squad captained by Raducanu. The competition takes place in Perth and Sydney from 2 to 11 January, the week preceding the season's first major.
"The greatest victory for 2026 is to not have concerns over completing bouts," he expressed.
"It provides fantastic feedback realizing 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 crucial element is complete faith that I can return to where I was. I will attempt everything to achieve that."