By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday July 4, 2025
They say one of the keys to being a good coach is not being afraid to be fired. Goran Ivanisevic is clearly in that category. The Croatian legend, and man that guided Novak Djokovic to half of his 24 Grand Slam titles, has sent some scathing commentary in the direction of his Greek charge, Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Speaking to Sport Klub, he said:
“If he solves some things outside of tennis then he has a chance of being back where he belongs because he’s too good a player to be out of the top 10. If not, then he has no chance. My duty is to fix some technical things on the court, that’s the easiest thing. This other stuff he has to fix on his own. If he does it, I sincerely hope he does, whether I am here or not.”
Goran Ivanisevic spoke out against Stefanos Tistispas after a month of collaboration:“He keeps saying ‘I want, I want,’ but I don’t see any progress. I was shocked; I’ve never seen a player so poorly prepared in my life. With my knee, I’m three times better prepared than him.” pic.twitter.com/Eb07CslyDm
— We Are Tennis (@WeAreTennis) July 4, 2025
When asked: “Does he want to?” Ivanisevic replied: “That’s a good question. He does want it, but he isn’t doing anything about it. It’s all ‘I want it, I want it’ but he isn’t doing anything about it. He has to resolve his back issue. I was shocked. I’ve never seen such an underprepared player in my life.”
Ivanisevic was at the helm as Tsitsipas went 1-2 in the grass-court season. The Greek pulled the plug on his first-round match at Wimbledon due to a back injury, after falling behind Valentin Royer, two sets to love.
Ivanisevic seems to believe that Tsitsipas, who is currently ranked 26, and carries a 19-13 record on the season, could be doing a lot more to get himself into better form.
“Me with this bad knee, I was three times readier. I don’t know what he was doing this year, but it was bad.”
No word on whether the pair will continue to work together for the hard court season.
