Tsitsipas - Is now the time for change?

[Fabresque]

It’s not a fruitful endeavor to continue down this current path of constantly being owned by Djokovic. By the time he retires, Stef may very well have to deal with Alcaraz (who seems to have his number), FAA, Rune, possibly Sinner as well. That’s too many younger, potentially better opponents lined up. The time is now for Stefanos to take some initiative and win a slam and become a world number 1, the same way Medvedev took initiative. Djokovic and Nadal are continuing to age, and they know that. Alcaraz’s form hasn’t been great + he seems to be a bit injury prone atm due to his very young age. Medvedev and Zverev could be completely out of the picture this season. Rune, Sinner still seem quite raw, Ruud/Rublev/Berrettini aren’t at a level to beat Stef in slams I don’t think right now. Felix’s recent AO performance was very suspect. 2023 is the year for Stefanos if he wants to do it before it may be too late.

His number 1 change should be in coaching. That backhand needs to get better, and he needs to start thinking/analyzing his point play more. You don’t have to fire daddy, but you gotta bring someone in at this point. Even Nadal realized that continuing with Tio at the helm wasn’t gonna reap any rewards anymore and made a big call, which led to him continuing to win slams. Djokovic cut out Vajda, kept Ivanisevic, Fed brought in Ljubicic, and all of these coaching moves brought about resurgences and newfound success. Big players make big calls and Stefanos needs to make a big call.

Don’t fire off dad, keep him around, but put him in the backseat. He had a partnership rolling with Thomas Enqvist last year but it was confirmed daddy was still running the show. Patrick Moratoglou isn’t traveling with him to many tournaments. Philippoussis can be a strong addition but he needs to be the #1 guy, plain and simple. Let him run the practices, set his schedules, analyze the matches, let him take the reins, shake things up. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work, but Apostolos’ methods clearly have stunted Stef.

 

[Krish0608]

His entire team stood up and applauded when he was giving the runner up speech. Except his dad, who was sitting down, cold and unbothered. I mean, he is your son and reached the final of a GS against one of the greatest ever. It's incredible what Stef has done the last 2 weeks, given how 2022 transpired. The least you can do is to stand up and respect your son's journey despite the disappointing finish. I have a feeling Apostolos puts way too much pressure on Stef and heavily interferes in his game. He only cares about success and is very hard on him when he slips. None of his coaching methods and criticisms are ever constructive. You don't want somebody like that in your corner. Stefanos is never going to ask his dad to leave. Feels like a cultural thing and it's upto the dad to decide that he's done all he could to get Stef this far and he should let him follow his own path. But this control freak is probably never going to let go of the reins.

 

[HFK]

He's just a small kid that doesn't know how to fight.

 

[Wesling]

I think he played well, two tiebreaks… margins

 

[DSH]

I think he played well, two tiebreaks… margins

The Greek should have won the second set and would have started the third serving first with the momentum and the crowd in his favor.
He says it's not a setback but he can't feel satisfied about losing a GS final to someone more than 11 years older than him either.

 

[reaper]

I think he played well, two tiebreaks… margins

He played well...apart from the two tie breaks. The entire 2nd set breaker (especially) and the first half of the 3rd set breaker were poor.

 

[weakera]

If you were reading the match thread, several Djokovic fans commented that Tsitsipas was "unplayable" and had achieved "God mode" in the second set. How we reconcile this with the fact that Tsitsipas never even produced a break in the 2nd set, I'm not certain lol

 

[Mahut]

He made the final at this AO because other players had opened up the draw for him in the first place...(Korda taking out Medvedev, then Khachanov taking out Korda in turn). I doubt he will make the final with a tougher draw.

With Nadal and Djokovic being the 1st and 2nd favorites at RG, and his poor record at USO, which is usually the most wide open slam, I just don't see him winning majors anytime soon.

 

[junior74]

I think he played well, two tiebreaks… margins

Should start by teaching to hit the ball cleanly in the strings. To want it badly is not enough - neither being "born a champion" (yikes).

If you make three times more unforced errors than winners, you're not winning unless you opponent is truly terrible.

 

[lrdrdy]

Apostalos is literally useless. Every game he is yapping, and never anything constructive or helpful. Just motioning swings whenever Tsitsipas mishits one, as if Tsitsipas needs 30 refreshers a match on how to swing his backhand. What a dumb guy

 

[Fabresque]

His entire team stood up and applauded when he was giving the runner up speech. Except his dad, who was sitting down, cold and unbothered. I mean, he is your son and reached the final of a GS against one of the greatest ever. It's incredible what Stef has done the last 2 weeks, given how 2022 transpired. The least you can do is to stand up and respect your son's journey despite the disappointing finish. I have a feeling Apostolos puts way too much pressure on Stef and heavily interferes in his game. He only cares about success and is very hard on him when he slips. None of his coaching methods and criticisms are ever constructive. You don't want somebody like that in your corner. Stefanos is never going to ask his dad to leave. Feels like a cultural thing and it's upto the dad to decide that he's done all he could to get Stef this far and he should let him follow his own path. But this control freak is probably never going to let go of the reins.

This is very sad to hear. Apostolos’ behavior seems so toxic honestly. He’s your son and he just reached a slam final, and he lost to who is probably the greatest of all time. Disappointing reaction.

 

[reaper]

Apostalos is literally useless. Every game he is yapping, and never anything constructive or helpful. Just motioning swings whenever Tsitsipas mishits one, as if Tsitsipas needs 30 refreshers a match on how to swing his backhand. What a dumb guy

Djokovic's team were telling him how to toss the ball to serve. The coaching was like an under 10's clinic.

 

[Fabresque]

Apostalos is literally useless. Every game he is yapping, and never anything constructive or helpful. Just motioning swings whenever Tsitsipas mishits one, as if Tsitsipas needs 30 refreshers a match on how to swing his backhand. What a dumb guy

This is all he can offer I think. Stuff about form, I don’t think he can offer Stef serious advice on tactics, strategy, etc…

Djokovic's team were telling him how to toss the ball to serve. The coaching was like an under 10's clinic.

HA. That’s pretty funny actually, telling the GOAT how to toss the ball. Guess it worked though.

 

[lrdrdy]

Djokovic's team were telling him how to toss the ball to serve. The coaching was like an under 10's clinic.

Well Djokovic did have a serving slump in the middle of the match, so that seems silly but useful. Apostalos just has to get a word in no matter what, dont know how Stef hasnt been driven crazy yet

 

[Tennfan123]

Time was mid June 2021.

 

[ChrisG]

Well Djokovic did have a serving slump in the middle of the match, so that seems silly but useful. Apostalos just has to get a word in no matter what, dont know how Stef hasnt been driven crazy yet

Well there’s the goatest of goats serve machine in his team so maybe Novak is happy to get some advice

 

[lrdrdy]

Well there’s the goatest of goats serve machine in his team so maybe Novak is happy to get some advice

Goran is like those training camps in old 2ks. Working with him gets you automatic +10 on serve

 

[dking68]

I have more faith in the 2000s gen than this clown

 

[Sudacafan]

Long ago.

 

[Winners or Errors]

The Greek should have won the second set and would have started the third serving first with the momentum and the crowd in his favor.
He says it's not a setback but he can't feel satisfied about losing a GS final to someone more than 11 years older than him either.

Fact is that he coughed up a few sloppy errors and was down 4-1 in that tiebreaker before he knew it. Not winning GS with those kinds of mental lapses…

 

[Sampras-Bruguera 1993]

Its tough to say. He may be too late. Yes hes young but he isn't really get any better either. If fact he was better 2 years ago. You're supposed to be a better player at 24 than you were at 22.. With the new gen coming up, I dont think he can swat them all off

 

[Fabresque]

Its tough to say. He may be too late. Yes hes young but he isn't really get any better either. If fact he was better 2 years ago. You're supposed to be a better player at 24 than you were at 22.. With the new gen coming up, I dont think he can swat them all off

His time is running out that’s for sure. The more Alcaraz grows, matures, and gets physically stronger, the less and less injuries will bother him, and his game is clearly too good for Stef. But there’s way more roadblocks set up along the way. Djoko still has at least 2 more years I think of being a consistent threat everywhere. That certainly doesn’t help him.

 

[socallefty]

I agree that Tsitsipas needs a very detail-oriented coach to improve his technique. He falls off on the serve to his left. He doesn’t have the right technique to flatten his BH and hit winners without making errors when he goes DTL - he can’t hit DTL passes either. His body control on the BH is not as consistent as steadier players and he is prone to errors in long BH rallies. His BH slice takeback is too abbreviated and prevents him from making it a more offensive driving shot.

Norman made Wawrinka’s strokes more compact and Massu did the same for Thiem - suddenly they both became more consistent outside of clay where you need compact strokes to play defense. Even his FH needs to become more compact to beat the likes of Djokovic outside of clay. Tsitsipas needs a coach like Massu/Norman, but I fear that his father will never allow a new coach to alter his shot technique too much because presumably his dad taught him his current flawed technique. Also someone who allows his dad to verbally dominate him so much in every match might lack the moxie of an ATG.

 

[Fabresque]

I agree that Tsitsipas needs a very detail-oriented coach to improve his technique. He falls off on the serve to his left. He doesn’t have the right technique to flatten his BH and hit winners without making errors when he goes DTL - he can’t hit DTL passes either. His body control on the BH is not as consistent as steadier players and he is prone to errors in long BH rallies. His BH slice takeback is too abbreviated and prevents him from making it a more offensive driving shot.

Norman made Wawrinka’s strokes more compact and Massu did the same for Thiem - suddenly they both became more consistent outside of clay where you need compact strokes to play defense. Even his FH needs to become more compact to beat the likes of Djokovic outside of clay. Tsitsipas needs a coach like Massu/Norman, but I fear that his father will never allow a new coach to alter his shot technique too much because presumably his dad taught him his current flawed technique. Also someone who allows his dad to verbally dominate him so much in every match might lack the moxie of an ATG.

This is all very informative and makes sense, he has technical flaws that must be ironed out for sure. But the reality is that Stef's biggest issue in my opinion is the tactical side of the game. He has an epic all-court game but still can't bring it out vs Djokovic. He has to analyze what's going on and what the problem is. Sit down with Phillipousis and Apostolos, watch the recordings, see what Djoker does vs. him (or even Alcaraz, Nadal, Medvedev who all have lopsided H2H's vs. him), and see where he falls apart. It's very easy to say "he is Djokovic he's too good", but more often than not it's not Djokovic being too good, but more Tsitsipas giving away the initiative. On set point in the 2nd set of the AO final, he reverted to his tentative self and began pushing, and Djokovic hit a really good forehand winner from the baseline. Yes, the shot was unplayable, but rewind and ask yourself why he was in the position to hit that shot instead of just saying "Djokovic was too good".

If a technical change is needed, then it is needed, and I agree with you that he's got a lot of problems in his game that continue to limit him against the games top top players.

 

[Fabresque]

So far the “big year” for Stefanos has led him to fall back to world no.7. He’s out of the top 5 for the first time since 2020(?)

 

[Torben]

You know what people are thinking. Is Badosa the next one to be shown the door?

 

[Fabresque]

You know what people are thinking. Is Badosa the next one to be shown the door?

I’ll take her if that’s the case.