Christos Fiotakis accompanied Stefanos Tsitsipas this season as a physical trainer. But their collaboration ended. In comments reported by the Greek media SDNA Sports, the former rugby player questioned the Greek player’s motivation in the rather successful clay court spring despite his helplessness against Carlos Alcaraz at Roland Garros in the quarter-final.
“I hope that at some point he will understand”
“I’m coming full circle, having said that I would try to contribute to the best possible results until Roland-Garros. The goals I had set as a coach did not happen. Nevertheless, we got Stefanos back on his feet, he is a fit athlete playing at a high level again after his injury,” confided Fiotakis in the preamble, in reference to the physical problems which affected the player at the end of the 2023 season. Tsitsipas had suffered from edema in the lower back in Shanghai and had to give up during the Masters after three short games during his second group match against Holger Rune. But the clear progress during the season was not enough to make the relationship last.
“Beyond that, there are things I can’t control. The atmosphere in the team does not match my energy and, unfortunately, we do not have the same priorities. However, I wish him the best and that he always stays in good physical shape. I am grateful for the experience I had with the team, I think I gave them a lot,” added Christos Fiotakis. “But I also learned a lot through these seven intense months spent on the circuit alongside such a high-level athlete. I hope that at some point he will understand that what I am telling him is correct and that he will climb to the top of the podium. »
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The duo will not make the Games together. “I was looking forward to the Paris Games because I thought that would be the time when we could have won gold, which we didn’t do in Tokyo due to strange circumstances and a certain bad luck. But like I said, we have different priorities and I’m not happy with Stefanos’ work ethic. Right now, I don’t think his top priority is playing tennis, getting to the top of the rankings and winning Grand Slams. That’s why I can’t travel for seven months straight with only 25 days at home, when the goals aren’t high and I’m traveling just to travel. »
