It was never a mystery that coaching for Stefanos Tsitsipas is a family affair. The Greek sensation has the luxury of having many people extremely knowledgeable about tennis around him, but sometimes opinions are diverse, and things get tricky.
Stefanos has been coached by his father Apostolos since the beginning of his great career, but his mother Julia was also a tennis player that was competing at ITF level and therefore she is quite knowledgeable about the game. In addition, Stefanos can rely on the precious advice of Patrick Mouratoglou that besides being Serena Williams’s official coach, he runs an extremely successful Academy in the south of France.
Tsitsipas dysfunctional relationship with his dad
Stefanos and his father enjoy a fantastic relationship, but sometimes things get understandably a bit complicated. Earlier in the year during the ATP Cup, the world no.6 unintentionally wounded his father when having an outburst on court to be promptly reprimanded by his mom.
Unfortunately, things got a bit nasty in New York when Stefanos was clearly frustrated during his disastrous match against Borna Coric. Tsitsipas was unable to convert scores of match points when he was leading the Croatian very comfortably. During that match, Stefanos completely lost his cool to yell at his father: “You don’t know!!!”
Later, Apostolos decided not to go to Rome and Stefanos lost his opener to Jannik Sinner after playing rather bad tennis. Things went remarkably well in the ATP500 in Hamburg, where Stefanos had his father back with him. He played extremely well until he lost the last 4 games in the final against Rublev when he seemed to be inches from winning his maiden ATP500.
Tsitsipas about being coached by his family
Stefanos is now in the semifinal at the French Open, where he established a personal record of winning 15 consecutive sets. Besides the constant presence of his father and the occasional one of Patrick Mouratoglou, Stefanos’ mom appeared in the players’ box.
When asked about the complications of being coached by his family, the Greek ace revealed that at times it is tricky especially when his mom expresses her opinions and if they are different than his father’s.
“My mom, she knows a lot about tennis. Sometimes it can be a bit complicated when she wants to give her own opinion or advice directly to me, then have my dad tell me something else,” said Stefanos during the press conference.
“We’ve sat down and we said, ‘Guys, that’s my coach. Whatever opinions or whatever thoughts you have, has to be filtered through Apostolos, my father’. It can get quite hectic,” he added.
Then Stefanos added that he was happy to have Patrick Mouratoglou at his side that right now he’s also not “distracted” by coaching Serena Williams as she retired in he 2nd round.
“Obviously, the presence of Patrick, we are a strong, united team. My mom is also a small part of it. She brings a lot to the team, a lot of energy, a lot of good vibes. She is lovely,” said Stefanos.
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Tsitsipas and Djokovic stats
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Novak Djokovic played each other 5 times. The head to head is 3-2 for Djokovic. The last time that they squared off, Novak Djokovic won 6-3 6-4 in the final in Dubai (Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships) on the 29th of February 2020.
In the video below you can watch the highlights.
Tsitsipas at the French Open, ranking, and results in 2020
Currently the world no.6, Tsitsipas has a 25-9 win-loss record in 2020. The Greek is currently competing at the French Open where he defeated Jaume Antoni Munar Clar 4-6 2-6 6-1 6-4 6-4, Pablo Cuevas 6-1 6-4 6-2, Aljaz Bedene 6-1 6-2 3-1 ret., Grigor Dimitrov 6-3 7-69 6-2 and Andrey Rublev 7-5 6-2 6-3.
The Greek conquered 1 title in 2020 in Marseille. Tsitsipas was the runner-up in Dubai and in Hamburg.
Tsitsipas won 5 titles in his career: 1 on clay courts and 4 on indoor courts. (See the list of his titles)
Djokovic at the French Open, ranking, and results in 2020
Now ranked no.1, Djokovic has a 36-1 win-loss record in 2020. Djokovic is currently having a run at the French Open where he toppled Mikael Ymer 6-0 6-2 6-3, Richard Berankis 6-1 6-2 6-2, Daniel Elahi Galan 6-0 6-3 6-2, Karen Khachanov 6-4 6-3 6-3 and Pablo Carreno-Busta 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-4.
Novak conquered 4 titles in 2020 at the Australian Open, in Dubai, in New York and in Rome.
Djokovic won 82 titles in his career: 48 on hard courts, 15 on clay courts, 13 on indoor courts and 6 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
