Playing at his lowest ranking in eight years and coming off yet another early Grand Slam exit, Stefanos Tsitsipas would have every right to be a little worried right now – except he’s not.
The former world No 3, currently at an unfamiliar 30th spot in the ATP rankings, acknowledges the challenges that come with being unseeded at certain tournaments but insists he is up for the task, and has come to terms with where he is at the moment.
A forgettable 2025 campaign that included coaching changes, a lingering back problem that forced him to retire in his Wimbledon opener, a search for a better racket, and bouts of anxiety, have all contributed to his slip down the rankings.
This season has been fairly promising though, by Tsitsipas’ own assessment, and he arrives in Dubai for his title defence feeling positive and eager to work.
“It's at a good place,” Tsitsipas told The National ahead of his Tuesday opener against another former Dubai champion, Ugo Humbert. “I can tell you that because I see how I compete and I'm able to go head-to-head against the best players in the world, and that's, for me, a great feedback for my current level to see where I stand at.
“I've had some good matches. There was a point a few months ago where I wasn't able to play matches and I wasn't showing that I'm able to compete against the best. But I'm currently at a pretty good state of mind and I feel pretty competitive.”
Tsitsipas is 9-4 for the season so far and has notched wins over top opponents such as Taylor Fritz at the United Cup and Daniil Medvedev in Doha last week.
Still, he hasn’t made it past the second round in his last seven Grand Slam appearances and is still searching for the kind of consistency that saw him make two major finals and reside in the top 10 for nearly six years.
“It's interesting because these things are determined by numbers, and numbers are the only thing that show you whether you're there or not,” said Tsitsipas, discussing his current ranking predicament.
“And I can name you plenty of players that are underachievers, that are playing way better things than what their ranking shows. So in fact, a ranking is just a number.
“And yes, it matters for a lot of different reasons. It does matter. But knowing inside of me what I'm capable of, knowing inside of me what my actual tennis looks like, not in terms of numbers, but actual performance.
“It is unfortunate that because of my ranking, I might have to play the best ones in early rounds. But that's about it. I thought about it. I went over it in my head.
“I feel like the privilege that you get as a high-ranked player is that of maybe having to avoid the best players in the world in early rounds. So I just have to put a lot of work in to get out of this situation.
“These next few months are not going to be easy. They're going to be tough because I will need to face against the best players sometimes in early rounds, and I will have to deal with it and try to find solutions in those type of encounters. So yeah, I have a lot of hard work ahead of me.”
Tsitsipas has been coached by his father, Apostolos, most of his life, but the 27-year-old Greek experimented with different coaching set-ups in recent years, bringing in two-time Grand Slam finalist Mark Philippoussis for a couple of stints between 2022 and 2023, and forming a brief partnership with former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic last season.
There have been tensions between him and his father over the years but Tsitsipas’ time on tour without Apostolos at the helm was fleeting.
Tsitsipas described his two-tournament stint with Ivanisevic as a “brief but intense experience” and he is now back working with his father, Apostolos, and occasionally with Dimitris Chatzinikolaou, the captain of Greece’s Davis Cup team (also alongside Apostolos).
“I feel homey with my team,” said Tsitsipas. “I feel like they belong exactly where they're at. And I feel like there's no anxiety around my team. There was a period where there was anxiety. New faces, new members were added.
“And it created a lot of confusion instead of clarity. I regret certain decisions that I jumped into and took based on performance of their own in the past and stuff like that. What I've learnt through it is it doesn't mean if you're a good tennis player, if you played good tennis in your life, you can be a good coach.
“That's what I've learnt from this whole process. And sometimes you got people that are right for you that weren't necessarily the best players in the world, weren't necessarily Grand Slam winners, weren't necessarily legends of the sport.
“So these type of people sometimes can bring the best out of you instead of people that have a certain status in the game.”
Tsitsipas explained that his father is a “core part” of his team, and that he also relies heavily on Chatzinikolaou.
“Dimitris is an extremely hard worker and he has always helped me get out on the court, work hard, work with a lot of dedication and discipline. And that's what I'm looking for,” said Tsitsipas.
“People ask, yeah, I need some tennis expertise, like, yes, of course I need to improve my volleys and of course I need to improve my defence. And there are a bunch of things that I can also improve myself a little bit too.
“So it's not necessarily that I need to work with an ex-Grand Slam champion, that he needs to improve all those things and it doesn't guarantee that they know how to target it in the proper way,” he continued.
“Dimitris will do a much better of a work by committing, dedicating, asking. The thing that I like about Dimitris, he's curious, and I like working with curious people.
“People that pretend they know it all and people that have this sort of persona that I'm in charge and I know how things work, I don't really enjoy that.
“I enjoy working with curious people, people that are open minded and people that are willing to listen, but also I am willing to listen to them in a respectful manner.”
Tsitsipas will kick off his title defence against Humbert at 7pm Dubai time on Tuesday and could potentially face another former champion, Andrey Rublev, in his second round. Rublev beat Tsitsipas in the Doha quarter-finals last week
“I just need to find ways through those situations, be fit, play good tennis, practice well, eat well, all these things to kind of match them and put them together. And I think the results will speak for themselves,” said Tsitsipas of the prospect of another difficult draw.
