Fiotakis (physical trainer) breaks up with Tsitsipas and says: “I wasn’t satisfied with his work ethic, he has other priorities”

The separations between tennis players and staff members are not always entirely calm and amicable. Among these seems to be the one between Stefanos Tsitsipas and his fitness coach Christos Fiotakis, who after the recent breakdown of their relationship revealed that he split from Greek because he was “unsatisfied with his work ethic and priorities.” Fiotakis does not believe that the world number 11’s “ultimate goal” is “to get to the top of the rankings or win Slam tournaments”.

Tsitsipas has a record of 28 wins and 10 losses in 2024, with his major success coming last April when he won his third career Masters 1000 title in Monte Carlo. The 25-year-old reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros last week, beaten by eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz, then came the split from his trainer.

“I close this circle, after saying that I would give my all to bring Stefanos to victory. The results and objectives I had set for myself as a coach did not arrive,” Fiotakis told the media outlet SDNA. “However, we achieved the important result of bringing Stefanos back to his feet, a healthy and competitive athlete at a high level after his injury. Beyond that, there are some things that are beyond my control. The climate of the team does not match my energy and unfortunately they have other priorities. However, I wish him the best and may he always stay healthy. I thank him for this experience I had with the team, I think I gave them a lot, but I also learned during the seven intense months I lived on the tour with such a high level athlete.”

Fiotakis added: “I was really looking forward to the Paris Olympics because I thought that would be the time when we could win gold, which we didn’t do in Tokyo, due to bad luck and some strange circumstances . As I said, however, we have other priorities I am not satisfied with Stefanos’ work ethic. Right now, I don’t think his main goal is to play tennis and get to the top of the rankings or win Grand Slams.. That’s why I also can’t travel for seven months straight, with only 25 days at home, when the goals aren’t high and I travel just to travel. I have enough work at home and I prefer to distribute my energy to different people in my daily life, make them fitter and get what they want, without stress.” concludes Fiotakis.

Rather harsh words, which will certainly cause discussion. Also due to injuries, but above all due to a certain confusion about the technical direction to give to his game, Tsitsipas has been stuck in a position below the best for over a year, with clear difficulties every time he has to compete with them, mostly coming out defeated most of the time.

In the meantime, Tsitsipas wrote one of his “classic” posts on It’s also about what you think and feel. Nourish your mind with kind thoughts and positive reinforcement.”

A response to his former fitness coach? In the meantime, we’ll see how he plays on grass, a rather difficult surface for him so far in his career…

Marco Mazzoni