Stefanos Tsitsipas discusses ‘very honest’ partnership with new coach amid return to form
Stefanos Tsitsipas has opened up about how his “very honest relationship” with coach Dimitris Chatzinikolaou helped inspire a dramatic return to form.
World No 9 Tsitispas began working with Chatzinikolaou towards the tail end of 2024, following his dramatic split with his dad Apostolos, who had coached his son throughout his career.
Chatzinikolaou is the Greek Davis Cup captain and has known Tsitsipas for several years, though this is the first spell where he has directly been working with the world No 9.
Having spent almost 10 months outside the top 10 of the ATP Rankings, Tsitsipas returned after winning his 12th career title at the Dubai Tennis Championships at the start of March.
It was the first ATP 500 title for the Greek, having lost 11 previous finals at that level, and he has since gone on to make the fourth round of the Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells.
Tsitsipas defeated Thiago Seyboth Wild in his opening match before a convincing 6-3, 6-3 win over former top-10 star Matteo Berrettini on Sunday.
Asked about his partnership with Chatzinikolaou following that victory, the two-time Grand Slam champion praised his “humble” coach for nurturing a good relationship between the two.
“Well, it’s a very honest relationship,” said Tsitsipas. “There are no filters with Dimitris.
“I feel like we talk to each other openly and freely, and we can communicate excellently, and I think that’s what makes a good team when I can just communicate with him in the best possible ways.
“I can just talk to him and be precise about how I feel and what I can improve, things that we can consider for the future.
“I feel like he’s very open-minded, like he listens. I have had a few coaches that, you know, I don’t feel like they are as open-minded and adjusting as fast.
“But what makes our relationship stand out is how we both feed each other feedback, meaning that I don’t pretend that I know everything, and Dimitris is humble enough to think that he’s not perfect either.
“I think that adds a lot to our relationship and makes us sort of work it out together.”
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It took some time for Tsitsipas and Chatzinikolaou’s partnership to bear fruit, with the 26-year-old unable to turn his form around straight away under new guidance.
He finished 2024 as the world No 11, his lowest year-end ranking since 2018, and was beaten in round one of the Australian Open this January.
Reflecting on his return to form – which has also been aided by a change in racket – Tsitsipas admitted that it took time for his game to hold up in matchplay, despite positive signs in practice.
He added: “I was working very well with Dimitris the last few months.
“I saw a big improvement in how I approached my matches, but also my work ethic in and out on kind of daily tennis sessions. I felt like there were things that, little by little, I started to improve and perfect.
“So it’s just that it felt like I wasn’t able to go out on the court and really do that to the level that I was doing it in practice. I was playing practice sets, and I was playing really well.
“I was winning a lot of the practice sets against good opponents. It’s just that it didn’t click when it came to the match, and I had to wait a little longer for that.
“With a few more changes that I added to my game, I felt like it added a lot of confidence stepping out onto the tennis court.”
Tsitsipas will hope to continue his recent return to form with victory against 12th seed Holger Rune in Tuesday’s fourth-round action in the desert.
Should the Greek prevail, it would be just his second Indian Wells quarter-final in seven tournament appearances.
