The Greek tennis star Seriously Considered Retirement Amid Pain-Filled 2025 Season
The athlete entered the previous US Open as the 26th seed.
Stefanos Tsitsipas has revealed he pondered ending his career because of severe spinal pain during the season.
The 27-year-old, who has reached a career-high ranking of world number three, was a finalist against Novak Djokovic in the finals of the 2021 French Open alongside the 2023 Australian Open.
Now ranked 36th in the world following minimal competition since his early exit in New York in August, Tsitsipas indicated that ongoing treatment has begun yielding positive results.
"I'm most excited is to observe how my training responds during actual training with regard to my back," commented Tsitsipas.
"My primary worry centered on if I could complete a match," the athlete continued, noting the injury plagued him "over the last half a year or more."
"I would wonder, 'Am I able to play another contest without discomfort?'"
"I became truly frightened after the defeat at the US Open [to Germany's Daniel Altmaier]. I was unable to walk for 48 hours. That's when you begin to question your career's future."
Tsitsipas further mentioned being content with his current recovery plan after finishing an extended period of pre-season training without any pain.
He is scheduled to compete for Greece at the team event, where they face Naomi Osaka's Japan and the Great Britain squad captained by Raducanu. The competition takes place across Australian cities in early January, the week preceding the season's first major.
"My main goal next season is to stop worrying about finishing matches," he stated.
"It provides fantastic feedback to know you completed an off-season in good health – I wish for it to last. I want to deliver during the upcoming season and for the team championship.
"I have done the work. The crucial element is total belief that I can return to where I was. I will try all means to make it happen."