Stefanos Tsitsipas is working with a new coach after firing his father, Apostolos, and it seems that his relationship with the new coach is great.
Tsitsipas was coached by his father, Apostolos, for the vast majority of his tennis career. His father basically dedicated his life to being the Greek player’s coach, and for a long time, it worked.
But as Tsitsipas became more successful and faced more and more challenges in his career, their relationship seemingly started to be rocky as well. The 26-year-old player was often seen arguing with his parents during the matches, which was certainly not ideal for him.
Maybe that was also one of the reasons why he decided to part ways with his father as a coach in August last year. After that, Tsitsipas started working with Dimitris Chatzinikolaou, who is also the captain of the Greek Davis Cup team.
After his most recent win in Indian Wells, Tsitsipas spoke about his relationship with coach Chatzinikolaou, and there were only words of praise that he had for his new coach.
“Well, it’s a very honest relationship. There are no filters with Dimitris. I feel like we talk to each other openly and freely, and we can communicate excellently, and I think that’s what makes a good team when I can just communicate with him in the best possible ways.”
“I can just talk to him and be precise about how I feel and what I can improve, things that we can consider for the future. I feel like he’s very open-minded, like he listens.”
Tsitsipas also referenced the fact that he has worked with his father as a coach for the vast majority of his tennis career. Because of that, the Greek player didn’t get to experience too many coaches, which is why this experience is relatively new to him.
But it’s clear that one thing that stands out in Tsitsipas’ relationship with Chatzinikolaou is the honesty and how freely he can talk to him. This might suggest that working with his father might have felt a bit uncomfortable for the former ATP Finals champion.
“I have had a few coaches that, you know, I don’t feel like they are as open-minded and adjusting as fast. But what makes our relationship stand out is how we both feed each other feedback, meaning that I don’t pretend that I know everything, and Dimitris is humble enough to think that he’s not perfect either. I think that adds a lot to our relationship and makes us sort of work it out together.”
Tsitsipas will try to continue his winning streak in the fourth round of the Indian Wells Open against Holger Rune, who is hoping to have a similar run this season.
The two have met three times before, and every time it was the young Danish player who won in their meeting. If Tsitsipas manages to beat Rune this time, it might signal that he has, in fact, really improved in recent weeks.
