ATP Tour star Stefanos Tsitsipas praises new coach for return to form

By SABC Sport
10th March 2025

Stefanos Tsitsipas hailed his honest relationship with coach Dimitris Chatzinikolaou as playing a key role in his career revival.

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 him.

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.