'I WOULDN'T SAY THIS IN THE MEDIA': AO FINALIST TORN OVER IVANIŠEVIĆ'S SHOCK COMMENTS

Marcos Baghdatis in his final tournament at Wimbledon in 2019. (Getty/Tim Clayton)

When former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanišević went public with his comments about his player Stefanos Tsitsipas, many would be forgiven if they thought it was a hoax.

Ivanišević, who joined Tsitsipas' team as coach before the grass court season, didn't hold back post-Wimbledon in a scathing assessment of the Greek star.

"He wants, but he doesn't do anything. All 'I want, I want', but I don't see that progress. I was shocked. I have never seen a more unprepared player in my life. With this knee, I am three times more fit than him. This is really bad," Novak Djokovic's former coach told Sportklub.

"It's simple and it's not simple. I've talked to him a lot of times. If he solves some things outside of tennis, then he has a chance and he'll return to where he belongs, because he's too good a player to be out of the top-10."

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The outlandish comments sparked discussion in the tennis world, as former world No.1 Jim Courier shared his disbelief.

"I've honestly asked a number of times, ‘Is that a spoof?’ because as much as a truth teller Goran is, you expect a coach to be more cagey with those comments," the American great said.

"I don't speak Croatian. I would like to hear the tone that he used, because I think a lot of that would probably tell us what he was really trying to tell, but if you're Tsitsipas and listening to our show, you're going, 'What the x is going on here?'"

Still yet to respond publicly to Ivanišević's views, there are now serious questions as to whether Tsitsipas will change coaches.

2006 Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis believes Ivanišević always carries the right intentions, but the matter should've been handled differently.

"I'm not saying what Goran said in his interviews is not right. 99 per cent of what he said, I'm pretty sure he's right because I know Goran. I know he's a great guy, he says things as they are and as he sees them," Baghdatis said in an interview with Ubitennis.

"But me personally, if I were coaching, I wouldn't go out there and say this in the media. I would tell it to the team, and I would tell it to Stefanos himself. Then, if he doesn't want to listen, I would part ways, and that's it."

Last month, Tsitsipas dropped out of the top-20 for the first time since 2018.

The 26-year-old, once predicted by many as the next big thing in men's tennis, has reached two Grand Slam finals without success.

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