Wimbledon champion faces backlash over harsh | Sports News

Goran Ivanisevic, Novak Djokovic’s former coach, has come underneath fire for his scathing remarks about Stefanos Tsitsipas following the latter’s early departure from Wimbledon as a result of a back damage. The 26-year-old Greek tennis star needed to retire within the first spherical towards France’s Valentin Royer, regardless of being two units down.

Tsitsipas, at present ranked world No. 26, had enlisted Ivanisevic’s steering in May, aiming to leverage the insight that had beforehand been imparted to Djokovic till their break up in 2024.

Yet, even with Ivanisevic on his staff, Tsitsipas could not stave off his third opening-round defeat prior to now 4 majors. Ivanisevic’s critique of Tsitsipas’ insufficient preparation post-withdrawal drew sharp criticism, notably from Patrik Muratoglu, Tsitsipas’ coach from 2018 to 2021.

Muratoglu chastised Ivanisevic for his method, stating on Instagram: “Goran going to the press and criticising his player is not coaching,” and “Even more, at that time, they’ve just started to work together, so no trust is made. You’re already killing the person publicly.”

He additional elaborated on the obligations of a coach, saying, “When Goran accepts the job, he knows that Stefanos probably doesn’t do things the right way or things need to change, but that’s the job. He arrives at a bad moment, but he knows it’s a bad moment. It’s not a surprise. If you look at the results of Stefanos for one year, they’re not even close to what he was doing before. So he knows it’s a difficult moment.”

“You accept it or you don’t accept it. These difficult moments can create wrong behaviors. This is what you need to bring back to good behaviors.

“In a manner, it makes me really feel that [Ivanisevic] is ashamed of the end result and he desires to separate himself from Stefanos to say, ‘It’s not me, I’m good.’ He just isn’t good. That’s his fault. So yeah, for a coach to see this, for me it is painful to see it.”

Former Wimbledon champ Ivanisevic claimed that despite retiring in 2004, he was in better shape than Tsitsipas for his match at the All England Club. Tsitsipas has made it to two Grand Slam finals and previously achieved a career-high No. 3 world ranking, but Ivanisevic believes his player needs to address some issues to get back on top.

“It’s each easy and it isn’t easy,” Ivanisevic told Sport Klub on Serbian TV. “I’ve talked to him a lot of occasions. If he solves some issues outdoors of tennis, then he has a likelihood and he’ll return to the place he belongs, as a result of he is too good a participant to be out of the highest 10. He desires to [return to the top level], however he would not do something.

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It’s at all times ‘I need, I need,’ however I do not see any progress. “”I used to be shocked; I’ve by no means seen a more unprepared participant in my life. With this knee, I’m thrice more ready than him. This is admittedly unhealthy.”

Tsitsipas opened up about his hardships following a disheartening outcome at Wimbledon, tracing the origin of his struggles to a back injury incurred at the 2023 ATP Finals, which has left him searching for solutions ever since.

In an emotional statement, Tsitsipas admitted, “It’s robust to explain. I’m battling many wars lately,” reflecting on the pain he feels regarding his current state.

He continued, voicing his frustration: “Since [the 2023 ATP Finals], I’ve been very fragile with my physique, and I’ve been battling a warfare of feeling healthy and feeling snug going to the extremes, which has been a tough battle. So I actually do not know. I really feel like I’m left with out solutions.”