Great success not expected immediately for Stefanos Tsitsipas with Goran Ivanisevic as coach

Goran Ivanisevic (MacKrys, Wikimedia Commons)

There was significant news over the weekend as 2001 Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic of Split, Croatia, has become the new coach of world number 25 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Athens, Greece according to Franziska Bruells of tennis.com on Saturday. Ivanisevic replaces Dimitris Chatzinikolaou, who had coached Tsitsipas the last two years. Before that, Tsitsipas was coached by Apostolos Tsitsipas, who is Stefanos’s father. Apostolos had coached Stefanos for over two decades since Stefanos was three years old.

This is a change in shift for Tsitsipas. For the majority of his tennis career, he has been coached by his family and friends. Now he will be coached by a former star in the sport, who beat former Australian star Patrick Rafter for his only grand slam title nearly a quarter century ago. It will be interesting to see the chemistry that develops between Tsitsipas and Ivanisevic, and how much Ivanisevic improves Tsitsipas’s game.

When it comes to Ivanisevic’s comments so far, they are a mixed bag. According to Andy West of atptour.com, Ivanisevic has high praise for Tsistipas. He has stated, “he is for me a top 10 player any day.” However the changes that Ivanisevic is planning will not result in an immediate improvement. According to Geoff Poundes of Sportkeeda, Ivanisevic has stated, “I am not Harry Potter, and I will not change everything overnight with a wand.” Expect gradual changes but it may be unrealistic to think Tsitsipas will win Wimbledon or the United States Open.

Ivanisevic has coaching experience. He has helped Marin Cilic win the 2014 United States Open, and Novak Djokovic win nine grand slam titles, most recently the 2023 United States Open. Ivanisevic has also coached Tomas Berdych, Milos Raonic, and Elena Rybakina.

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