The highest-ranked Greek tennis player, Stefanos Tsitsipas, is nothing short of an icon in Greece. The 25-year-old has achieved a remarkable career feat after reaching the Australian Open finals earlier this year. He has already got the taste of defeating the best in business, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. However, recently things went into a tailspin for the Greek star. But why?

People have started to raise their eyebrows after the World No. 7’s drastic dip in form. There has been turmoil in his career after his last win against Alex de Minaur (6-3,6-4) in the finals of the Los Cabos Open. He has been struggling with injuries and his off-the-field activities recently haven’t helped him either. In fact, this has completely overshadowed his two appearances in the finals this year. There is a famous saying that the world only remembers the winners and it seems Tsitsipas is currently finding it hard to be one. A certain International Tennis Hall of Fame star dropped her two pennies on his fall from grace.

Former American tennis player tries to decode the downfall of Stefanos Tsitsipas

Pamela Howard Shriver is regarded as one of the greatest doubles players in the history of the game. Recently, she appeared on a podcast of Tennis Channel INSIDE-IN, where she shared her concerns for Tsitsipas. Dissecting the reasons behind the player’s drop in performance, Shriver recalled some of her similar on-court struggles. 

The 61-year-old recalled a similar instance from her past where she had struggled against legends of the WTA. According to her, sometimes trying too hard to outshine the biggest opponents can take a toll on the performance. “A lot of turbulence, on and off-court, social media posts, a lot of stuff about the coaching situation, dating Badosa, you know. I know what it’s like to be the chaser and to not quite get there. It was exhausting. I had about eight or nine years where I was somewhere between three and seven in the world, trying to chase down Chrissie, Martina, and then Graf and Seles, and eventually hit the wall around when I was like 27, 28.”

“So whether or not that’s happening to Tsitsipas and kind of like a little disheartened now, seeing the quality of Alcaraz, Sinner, and even Shelton,” reasoned Shriver.

Shriver criticized him for chopping off members and changing his coaching team frequently. But her subtly expressing her opinion about his presence on social media with his girlfriend -like romantic getaways on the public Tsitsidosa account – might have shifted his focus from the game and disrupted his consistency. Perhaps the Greek player’s team, too, registered this shift, seeing that a strange change took place some time ago.

Stefanos Tsitsipas’ joint public account with girlfriend goes blank

Stefanos Tsitsipas is the first Greek male player in the Open Era to have ever won a junior Grand Slam title, with his exceptional on-court skills and powerful playing style attracting many. But as Shriver pointed out, his coaching team shuffles may have hindered his progress. An on-and-off professional relationship with coach Mark Phillipoussis and father Apostolos continued the dismal spell from an injury-driven pull-out of the Laver Cup and a poor show at Shanghai, where he went down to Ugo Humbert in easy sets. However, the court is the least of his worries.

READ MORE: Stefanos Tsitsipas’ Girlfriend Paula Badosa Reveals ‘Love at First Sight’, But It Isn’t the Greek Tennis Heartthrob

In late July, speaking to ESTO, Tsitsipas would admit that traveling without his girlfriend on tour – injury-riddled former World No. 2 player Paula Badosa – had been difficult: “It’s the first time in a long time that we’re not together. Now I realize how much I miss her and how much she misses me, too.” Begrudgingly admitting the reality could not stop his fall. A turn of events in the couple’s lives soon saw their entire relationship timeline wiped out on Instagram without a word.

As the bottom line, one question remains: Can Tsitsipas deliver to his potential and make his fans happy yet again? We’ll have to wait and watch for that. Tell us, what do you think might be the reason for his sudden downfall?

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