Tsitsipas currently has free time after failing to qualify for the ATP Finals. He won the prestigious season-ending tournament in 2019, but his results this year were not good enough to make it to Turin.
Although his quarterfinal defeat against Alexander Zverev almost two weeks ago at the Paris Masters was his final match of the season, the Greek still generated attention for comments he recently made on social media.
Tsitsipas criticized the increased number of two-week Masters 1000 tournaments this season, arguing they harmed the quality of the tennis being played and were an attempt by the ATP to fix something that was not broken.
Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka responded by sharing a video of Tsitsipas from 2022, when he talked to Andrea Gaudenzi, the chairman of the ATP, about the idea to increase the number of two-week Masters 1000 tournaments.
Tsitsipas’ views were entirely different in 2022. The two-time Grand Slam runner-up spoke approvingly of the move. Although there is nothing wrong with the 26-year-old changing his views, Tsitsipas did not give that context in his recent comments.
However, Wawrinka clearly meant it as a light-hearted piece of trolling that should not be taken too seriously. The 39-year-old Swiss will return to the ATP Tour next year and has no plans to retire yet.
Tsitsipas probably needs to mentally refresh after a challenging season that included him splitting with his father after he had been the former world No. 3’s coach for a lengthy period. Their relationship has not been easy since.
The 2021 French Open runner-up looked far more relaxed in a recent interview with 433. Tsitsipas played a game where he repeatedly chose between two great athletes before being left with one at the end.
The interview can be watched below. Tsitsipas begins by choosing Carlos Alcaraz over Jude Bellingham. Unsurprisingly, he then picks Roger Federer over Carlos Alcaraz since the Spaniard is still near the start of his career.
After choosing Michael Jordan over Federer and Lionel Messi, Tsitsipas opts for Muhammad Ali instead of Jordan and Cristiano Ronaldo before picking Nadal instead of Ali and LeBron James.
The game ends with Tsitsipas choosing between Nadal and Djokovic. Without hesitating, the Greek went with Nadal over the Serbian, which might surprise some fans.
Djokovic is statistically the most successful tennis player ever. He holds the most Grand Slams in ATP history(and joint most in tennis history with Margaret Court), the most weeks at No. 1, and the most ATP Finals titles.
It would be interesting to know why Tsitsipas opted for Nadal instead. The Spaniard’s unprecedented 14 French Open titles and classy conduct during his career are possible reasons.
Nadal’s final professional appearance before retiring will occur at next week’s Davis Cup Finals. Team Spain is scheduled to face Team Netherlands in the quarterfinal on November 19th.
