WIMBLEDON, England — Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas said he has no answers to his ongoing fitness problems after being forced to retire from his Wimbledon first-round match on Monday due to a back injury.
Tsitsipas, the former world No. 3 who is seeded 24th in London, was trailing 6-3, 6-2 to French qualifier Valentin Royer when he decided enough was enough.
“I’m battling many wars these days,” said Tsitsipas, a two-time runner-up in Grand Slam events. “It’s really painful to see myself in a situation like this. I feel like I’m left without answers. I don’t know. I’ve tried everything.
“I’ve done an incredible job with my fitness. I’ve done an incredible job with my physiotherapy, so I’ve maximized on everything that I possibly can do. Right now, I’m just absolutely left with no answers.”
Tsitsipas said he has been struggling with a lower-back injury since withdrawing from the ATP Tour Finals in 2023. Despite winning the Dubai title this year, his fitness issues have coincided with a slide in the rankings.
He has reached only one quarterfinal in his past nine Grand Slam tournaments and his hopes of playing in the US Open appear to be in jeopardy.
“It’s probably the most difficult situation that I’ve ever been faced with, because it’s an ongoing issue that doesn’t seem to be disappearing or fading,” said Tsitsipas, who has recently started working with Goran Ivanisevic, Novak Djokovic‘s former coach. “I have a limit at some point, so I’ll definitely have to have my final answer on whether I want to do stuff or not in the next couple of months.
“Tennis is a rotational sport, and if you can’t rotate, then there’s no reason playing it.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
