It can’t get worse for Stefanos Tsitsipas at the moment, can it? Last month, he suffered a shocking exit at the French Open, losing against Matteo Gigante in the second round of the French Open. With the early loss, it also majorly impacted his ATP ranking. Following the French Open exit, Tsitsipas dropped out of the top 20 of the ATP rankings and is now placed in the 25th spot. The misery continued for the Greek star, as he faced more trouble ahead of the Wimbledon Championships.

Soon after the French Open debacle, Tsitsipas joined hands with Novak Djokovic’s ex-coach, Goran Ivanisevic. The Greek star was without a coach after splitting with his father last year. With Ivanisevic by his side, Djokovic’s ex-coach could add another dimension to his game. “Well, I think it’s fair to say that Goran is one of the best servers of all time. So I think the serve is definitely one of the priorities,” Tsitsipas said, ahead of the grass-court season.

However, his campaign got off to an inauspicious start, as he faced a major injury scare in the middle of the match. Tsitsipas is playing in the Terra Wortmann Open and is facing Luciano Darderi in the opening round. During the third set, when he was leading 4-3, Tsitsipas called for a medical timeout, seemingly due to a lower back injury. Subsequently, the tournament physio arrived and inspected his back, even giving him a brief massage, providing some temporary relief to the Greek star.

Although Tsitsipas played through pain, he went on to win the contest in the tiebreaker, defeating Darderi 6- 4, 3-6, 7-6 (5). In a marathon encounter, it went right to the distance, as Tsitsipas began his partnership with Ivanisevic on a winning note. Asked about why he chose to partner with Ivanisevic, Tsitsipas said, “He also has a wealth of experience in his career, both as a coach and as a player. That’s why I try to learn as much as possible from him.”

Meanwhile, Ivanisevic has already identified the areas of concern for Stefanos Tsitsipas ahead of the Wimbledon Championships.

Goran Ivanisevic sets the target for Stefanos Tsitsipas

For most of his career, Stefanos Tsitsipas has found himself in the top 10 of the ATP rankings. However, a sharp dip in form recently resulted in his ouster from the top 20 to the 25th spot currently. Additionally, grass isn’t a very happy hunting ground for Tsitsipas, and this is something that Ivanisevic wants to address to begin their partnership with.

During an interview, Ivanisevic revealed, “I do not understand why he has not had good results on grass. I think it is a mental issue. If you get stuck in the idea that you do not feel comfortable on this surface and cannot perform at your best, the peculiarities of the grass surface mentally devour you. You must have a very positive attitude when playing on grass.”

Further, he also added, “There is a lot to be done, but this is a process. I am not a magician who will change everything overnight. I will work on his serve and volley. It is a great challenge for me.”

To put things into perspective, Stefanos Tsitsipas has never made it past the fourth round at Wimbledon. However, if he is to achieve the goal of returning to the top 10 this year, a good performance at Wimbledon would be paramount. It’ll be interesting to see if he can shrug off his injury concerns and put together a good run in London.