The Greek tennis star Contemplated Retirement Amid Injury-Plagued 2025 Season
The athlete entered the previous US Open as the 26th seed.
The tennis professional disclosed he thought about ending his career due to debilitating spinal pain during the season.
The 27-year-old, who has reached a career-high ranking of world number three, was a finalist against Novak Djokovic at both the 2021 French Open alongside the 2023 Australian Open.
Currently placed 36th in the world following minimal competition since his early exit at the US Open this past summer, Tsitsipas indicated that ongoing treatment is finally showing encouraging progress.
"My greatest anticipation is to observe how my body responds during actual training concerning my injury," said Tsitsipas.
"The biggest fear was whether I was able to finish a match," he added, explaining the pain had troubled him "over the last half a year or more."
"I would wonder, 'Can I compete another contest without discomfort?'"
"It was genuinely scary after the defeat at the US Open [to Germany's Daniel Altmaier]. I could not to walk for 48 hours. That's when you start reconsidering the path ahead."
He also reported being content with his current recovery plan after finishing five weeks of off-season preparation without any pain.
His next appearance for Greece at the team event, where they face Naomi Osaka's Japan and the British team led by Emma Raducanu. The competition takes place across Australian cities in early January, just before the Australian Open.
"My main goal next season would be to not have concerns about finishing matches," he stated.
"It provides fantastic feedback realizing you had an off-season in good health – I hope it continues. I aim to perform in 2026 and at the team championship.
"The effort is invested. The most important thing is total belief in my ability to get back to where I was. I will attempt everything to achieve that."
