Tennis star who fired his dad makes another radical change to turnaround form and it pays off instantly
Stefanos Tsitsipas made another change in his bid to get back to his best - and it immediately paid off after claiming his maiden ATP 500 title.
The Greek athlete has suffered a run of poor results in the last ten months, but after two major changes, he has come out on top at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
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Tsitsipas - a two-time Grand Slam finalist and former No. 3 in the world - emerged victorious over Felix Auger-Aliassime as he won 6-3, 6-3 on Saturday.
The 26-year-old has been a star on the ATP tour since his breakthrough in 2016 at just 18 years of age.
Having enjoyed a successful career so far with two appearances in Grand Slam finals and winning three ATP Masters 1000 titles, Tsitsipas has been struggling for form of late.
Since he lifted the Monte Carlo Masters title in March last year, Tsitsipas has struggled to get achieve consistency across tournaments.
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Such down-turn in form even provoked the star to fire his coach, who was his dad Apostolos Tsitsipas.
“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.
Now after poor results at the Australian Open, Rotterdam tournament and Qatar Open, Tsitsipas has made another radical change.
At the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships this week, Tsitsipas showed up with a blacked-out frame and a different racket.
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The decision to do this was sparked by Tsitsipas' admission that he needs to adapt his game to the slower balls and courts on the ATP tour.
Previously, Tsitsipas had been playing with a Wilson Blade, the most widely used racket on the pro tour, known for its precision, feel and all-court versatility.
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Now Tsitsipas has gone for a 98 square-inch head racket with an 18x20 string pattern and Luxilon 4G strings.
This is a racket that produces a highly predictable response and great control, however more effort is needed to generate power and spin.
It was a change that paid off instantly as Tsitsipas won in Dubai - his first tournament since he changed his racket.
Speaking after his ATP 500 success, he said: "There is nothing that ensured the win today, it was just pure fighting.
“It’s a big relief that I’m able to hold that trophy after the third attempt.
"It’s something that I had in the back of my mind, and I’m happy to say I accomplished it.
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"I had a great opponent on the other side of the net, I knew it was a difficult task.
"I’m just proud of the way I managed the pressure and was able to perform in those crucial moments.”
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