By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Friday, April 11, 2025
Photo credit: Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters Facebook
Greek media reports Stefanos Tsitsipas will begin working with coach Goran Ivanisevic after Roland Garros.
Tsitsipas sure could have used the Wimbledon winner’s serving expertise advice today.
Lorenzo Musetti dethroned defending Monte-Carlo champion Tsitsipas 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters semifinal.
Three-time champion Tsitsipas committed serving self-sabotage.
Tsitsipas served just 49 percent for the match, including an unsightly 29 percent in the final set when he spit up four of his seven double faults.
“[The cause] was, I would say, serve 100%,” Tsitsipas told the media in Monte-Carlo. “The serve definitely was the thing that kind of was missing, but also, it didn’t help me when I needed it. I was playing with a second serve — the entire second and third set I was playing with just one serve.
“I can’t say that I had moments where I could, like, build the rallies around my serve, placing it well. Maybe the first set I served all right, but still not entirely satisfied with how I served in the first set.
“I might feel like maybe he came in a bit sore and tight and his game wasn’t quite showing in the first set. I knew I was in trouble when I wasn’t able to put first serves in. It made me feel uncertain.”
It was Musetti’s first win in six meetings vs. the Greek and will send the eighth-ranked Tsitsipas out of the Top 15 to No. 16 when the new ATP rankings are released on Monday.
The Greek publication Gazzett reports Tsitsipas will hire Goran Ivanisevic as his coach after Roland-Garros.
Former World No.3 Tsitsipas has yet to speak publicly about the move.
„Tsitsipas: With Ivanisevic after Roland Garros“https://t.co/Ilrn0Ud63B
— Tsitsidaily🇬🇷 (@tsitsidaily) April 10, 2025
Asked to address reports he is hiring Hall of Famer Ivanisevic, Tsitsipas replied: “I’m not in a position to answer that yet.”
That could mean the pair are still finalizing the relationship. One of the greatest servers in tennis history, Ivanisevic is a highly respected technician and tactician who coached both Novak Djokovic and Marin Cilic to Grand Slam championships. Ivanisevic briefly worked with former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in December and January before leaving that post when Rybakina said she planned to bring back her former coach, Stefano Vukov.
Kerei Abakar, of the Mouratoglou Academy, is currently working with the Tsitsipas in Monte-Carlo, and will reportedly stay with him for the remainder of the clay season. Tsitispas’ father and former coach, Apostolos Tsitsipas, was on hand for today’s quarterfinal.
