‘Just be my dad’ – Tennis star gets emotional explaining why he fired his father amid collapse in form
Firing anyone is hard but when it is your dad, it becomes even harder.
Stefanos Tsitsipas cut professional ties with his father and in recent interview, the Greek got emotional about the reasons why.
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Speaking to the , Tsitsipas opened up on the decision to hire a new coach and in the process fire his dad.
The Greek ended his father's role as his coach back in August after a wild outburst at the National Bank Open in Montreal.
The world No.12 exploded and raged at his dad, Apostolos, during a match against Kei Nishikori, which he lost.
The 26-year-old explained he was upset with his father's persistent shouting in his box and promised there would be changes in his coaching set-up after.
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“My father hasn't been very smart or very good at handling those situations, I am really disappointed," the Greek star said following his defeat.
Tsitispas then later announced that he was cutting professional ties in a long social media post that paid credit to father but stressed it was time for a change.
This is not the first time that Tsitsipas has removed his dad as his coach, in 2023 he hired Mark Philippoussis to become replace his father.
However, that relationship would only last two months and his father stepped back into the role after the 26-year-old suffered poor results during his run with Philippoussis.
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Although since Apostolos' return as his coach, the father-son duo have had a rocky relationship when it comes to tennis.
Alongside the outburst in Moneteral, Tsitsipas told his dad to "shut up" during last year's French Open.
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Now, after an early exit in Melbourne and five months without his dad as his coach, the Greek star has reflected on the decision to fire his dad.
“I’ve chosen to stop collaborating with my father this year because I saw a lot of things that were tiring to him,” the 11-time title winner told WTA star Caroline Garcia on the Tennis Insider Podcast.
“He was not anymore in the same energy levels as he used to be. Perhaps he was making mistakes more often than he normally was. And I was already thinking of that for years, actually.”
“I wanted to take my own route already for years now, but it was just difficult to disconnect and let go of my father, who has done so much for me."
The 11-time winner also revealed the emotional reason as to why he let go of his dad, explaining their actual father-son relationship suffered.
“I really just him to be my dad because I feel like through our relationship in tennis, things have kind of gotten mixed up," the 26-year-old added.
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"I’ve lost that value of the father that I want to have in my personal everyday life."
Tsitsipas is a former world No.3 and has been a star on the ATP tour since his breakthrough in 2016 at just 18 years of age.
The current world No.12 will look to rebuild his form ahead of a busy hard court season across the Middle East, Europe and US before the clay court season begins in March, a surface he favours.
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