The Greek tennis star Seriously Considered Walking Away Amid Injury-Plagued 2025 Season

Stefanos Tsitsipas has revealed he thought about ending his career because of debilitating spinal pain throughout the season.

The 27-year-old, who has reached a career-high ranking of world number three, was a finalist to Novak Djokovic in the finals of the 2021 French Open alongside the 2023 Australian Open.

Now ranked 36th in the world after a limited schedule since his second-round departure in New York this past summer, Tsitsipas indicated that ongoing treatment has begun yielding positive results.

"I'm most excited lies in seeing how my body holds up under actual training with regard to my injury," commented Tsitsipas.

"The biggest fear centered on if I could complete an encounter," the athlete continued, explaining the pain plagued him "over the last six to eight months."

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

"I became truly frightened following the loss at the US Open [to Germany's Daniel Altmaier]. I was unable to move for two days. That is the moment start reconsidering your career's future."

He also reported satisfaction regarding the present treatment regimen following the completion of an extended period of off-season preparation completely pain-free.

He is scheduled to compete for Greece in the United Cup, where they face Team Japan led by Osaka and the British team captained by Raducanu. The competition takes place in Perth and Sydney in early January, just before the Australian Open.

"The greatest victory for 2026 is to stop worrying about finishing matches," he stated.

"It provides fantastic feedback realizing you had a pre-season without pain – I wish for it to last. I want to deliver in 2026 and at the United Cup.

"I have done the work. The crucial element is complete faith that I can return to where I was. I will try all means to achieve that."