The Greek tennis star Contemplated Retirement During Pain-Filled Campaign
The athlete entered the previous US Open as the 26th seed.
The tennis professional disclosed he thought about ending his career because of debilitating spinal pain throughout the 2025 tennis year.
The 27-year-old, who has reached a career-high ranking of world number three, finished as runner-up against Novak Djokovic in the finals of the 2021 French Open and the 2023 Australian Open.
Now ranked 36th in the world following minimal competition post a second-round departure at the US Open in August, Tsitsipas indicated continuous medical care has begun yielding encouraging progress.
"My greatest anticipation lies in seeing how my training responds during actual training concerning my injury," commented Tsitsipas.
"My primary worry was whether I could complete a match," the athlete continued, explaining the pain had troubled him "for the past six to eight months."
"I kept asking, 'Can I compete another contest pain-free?'"
"I became truly frightened after the defeat at the US Open [to Germany's Daniel Altmaier]. I could not to move for 48 hours. That's when you start reconsidering your career's future."
He also reported being content with his current recovery plan following the completion of five weeks of off-season preparation without any pain.
He is scheduled to compete with the Greek team at the team event, drawn against Naomi Osaka's Japan and the Great Britain squad captained by Raducanu. The tournament takes place across Australian cities in early January, just before the season's first major.
"The greatest victory for 2026 would be to not have concerns about finishing matches," he expressed.
"It is incredibly encouraging realizing you completed an off-season in good health – I hope it continues. I aim to perform during the upcoming season and for the team championship.
"I have done the work. The most important thing is complete faith that I can return to where I was. I will attempt everything to achieve that."
