By Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Monday, June 30, 2025
Photo credit: Rob Newell/CameraSport
Stefanos Tsitsipas fell victim to Valentin Royer and the pain game today.
Battling his creaky back and the sharper French qualifier, Tsitsipas tapped out of his Wimbledon opener trailing Royer 6-3, 6-2 on No. 12 Court
Former world No. 3 Tsitsipas retired after 77 minutes of frustrating play.
The two-time major finalist suffered his fourth opening-round exit in eight Wimbledon appearances and conceded he’s out of answers right now.
“I mean, I’m battling many wars these days. It’s really painful to see myself in a situation like this,” Tsitsipas said. “One thing that I absolutely hate doing is retiring or stopping a match, but I’ve never pictured myself being in a situation like this multiple times since the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin a couple of years back.
“Since that time, I’ve been very fragile with my body, and I’ve been battling a war of feeling healthy and feeling comfortable going to the extremes, which has been a difficult battle. So I really don’t know.
“I feel like I’m left without answers. I don’t know. I’ve tried everything.”
It’s been a tortuous Slam season for Tsitsipas, who suffered is second straight major opening-round loss.
World No. 26 Tsitsipas has posted one match win in three Grand Slam appearances this season.
The two-time major finalist said his ongoing lower left back issue can limit his ability to rotate his body through his shots.
“It’s one of those injuries that you can’t be taking lightly, because tennis is a rotational sport, and if you can’t rotate, then there’s no reason playing it,” Tsitsipas said. “It’s something that I’ve been dealing with for many years now, my lower left side back.
“It’s exactly what Arthur Fils went through the last couple of weeks playing at the French Open. I feel like it can be a very tricky injury.”
Though Tsitsipas is encouraged by the work he’s done in practice with new coach and former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic, he suggested he’s considering taking a break to try to fully heal.
“It’s probably the most difficult situation that I’ve ever been faced with, because it’s an ongoing issue that doesn’t seem to be disappearing or fading off as much,” Tsitsipas said. “Myself, as a person, I have a limit at some point, so I’ll definitely have to have my final answer on whether I want to do stuff or not in the next couple of months.
“This is going to be hard, but if I see it going in that trajectory, there is no point at competing. If I’m not healthy, and I’ve talked about health so many times, if health is not there, then your whole tennis life becomes miserable.”
