Stefanos Tsitsipas Contemplated Walking Away During Injury-Plagued 2025 Season

Stefanos Tsitsipas has revealed he pondered ending his career because of severe spinal pain during the 2025 tennis year.

The 27-year-old, who has reached a career-high ranking of world number three, finished as runner-up to Novak Djokovic at both the 2021 French Open and the 2023 Australian Open.

Now ranked 36th in the world after a limited schedule post a second-round departure in New York this past summer, he stated that ongoing treatment is finally showing encouraging progress.

"I'm most excited is to observe how my body responds during actual training concerning my back," commented Tsitsipas.

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

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

"I became truly frightened after the defeat in Flushing Meadows [to Germany's Daniel Altmaier]. I could not to walk for two days. That's when you start reconsidering your career's future."

He also reported being content with his current recovery plan after finishing an extended period of pre-season training completely pain-free.

His next appearance for Greece at the team event, where they face Team Japan led by Osaka and the British team led by Emma Raducanu. The competition takes place across Australian cities from 2 to 11 January, just before the Australian Open.

"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 wish for it to last. I aim to perform during the upcoming season and for the team championship.

"The effort is invested. The crucial element is complete faith in my ability to get back to where I was. I will attempt everything to achieve that."