“I didn’t have a healthy body last year and it affected my ranking and my confidence,” Tsitsipas said. “But now all of a sudden I can run long distances without it affecting me, so that’s a big relief for me. I know I can get back to the top. I sincerely believe that. If I want to play every week, now I know I can without any worries.”
That is why he is playing more than usual this fall.
Normally, I wouldn’t enter so many tournaments
“Normally I wouldn’t do so many tournaments, but I’m trying to get as many points as possible at the end of the season,” he said. “I want to close the season strong to get into the Grand Slams and avoid the big names in the early stages of the big tournaments. I think next season will be more about me hunting than hunting, like this year when I was honestly hunting to get back to where I am.”
Tsitsipas, who won the Gstaad title this season, has been back on track since the second half of the year. He credited Thomas Perrin, who joined his team from Mouratoglou’s academy.
“Thomas brings calmness to the team and that’s what I need,” he said. “I need someone who understands me and my decision-making process. He’s a very collaborative person, he’s open-minded and he sees things exactly the way I do.”
Round 1: Kovacevich
He said keeping his father out of the coaching role was the right call. “I love my father as a father and I want to keep the coaching part out of my relationship with him, because now has never been better.” He added that Patrick Mouratoglou is “a great asset who is also a part of the whole Tsitsipas team”.
Tsitsipas reached the final of the event in 2022 when it was held in Astana, losing 6-3, 6-4 to Novak Djokovic. He opens with American Alexander Kovacevich, and the winner will face Kazakh wildcard Mikhail Kukushkin in the second round.