The Greek tennis star Contemplated Retirement During Injury-Plagued Campaign
The athlete entered the previous US Open as the 26th seed.
Stefanos Tsitsipas has revealed he thought about ending his career due to severe spinal pain during the season.
At 27 years old, the player once ranked as high as third globally, finished as runner-up against Novak Djokovic at both the 2021 French Open alongside the 2023 Australian Open.
Currently placed as the world's 36th best player after a limited schedule since his second-round departure in New York in August, he stated that ongoing treatment has begun yielding encouraging progress.
"I'm most excited lies in seeing how my body holds up under actual training with regard to my injury," commented Tsitsipas.
"The biggest fear centered on if I was able to finish a match," the athlete continued, noting the injury had troubled him "over the last six to eight months."
"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 was unable to move for 48 hours. That's when you begin to question your career's future."
He also reported satisfaction regarding his current recovery plan after finishing five weeks of pre-season training without any pain.
He is scheduled to compete for Greece in the United Cup, drawn against Team Japan led by Osaka and the British team led by Emma Raducanu. The tournament will be held across Australian cities from 2 to 11 January, the week preceding the season's first major.
"The greatest victory for 2026 is to not have concerns over completing bouts," he expressed.
"It provides fantastic feedback to know you had an off-season without pain – I hope it continues. I want to deliver in 2026 and at the team championship.
"The effort is invested. The crucial element is complete faith that I can return to where I was. I will attempt everything to achieve that."
