'IT'S A CONSTANT PUZZLE': CAN TSITSIPAS SOLVE RECENT FORM WOES?

Time is running out for Stefanos Tsitsipas. (Getty/Anne-Christine Poujoulat)

Stefanos Tsitsipas is not the player he once was.

Following his loss to 167th-ranked Italian Matteo Gigante at Roland-Garros, Tsitsipas dropped out of the top-20 for the first time since August 2018.

The Greek star fell out of the top-10 after failing to defend his Monte-Carlo Masters title back in April and has now suffered his earliest French Open exit since a second-round loss to Dominic Thiem in 2018.

Tsitsipas had reached at least the fourth-round of the tournament every year since then, including runs to the semi-final in 2020 and the final one year later.

Defending 400 points at Roland-Garros following a run to the last eight in 2024, the former world No.3 now falls to No.26 in the live ATP rankings, his lowest in almost seven years.

Normally peaking during the first half of the year, with Wimbledon and the US Open traditionally being his weakest Slams, the two-time Grand Slam finalist faces an uphill task to rescue his ranking over the coming months and, indeed, his career.

So great are his form woes, in fact, that at his last four majors, he hasn't made it past the second round.

This is a far cry from a player who, for five years, was a model of consistency at the highest level, remaining firmly in the top-10 from 2019 to 2024.

Back then, the Greek No.1 seemed to have a better competitive spirit and approached the game with confidence. His well-established backhand flaws have always been there, but this was alleviated by his superior forehand. 

Indeed, Tsitsipas arguably had one of the most potent forehands in the game. At the peak of his powers, he would take over one side of the court with his weight of shot and dominate proceedings on the forehand wing. 

Now, his shots don't seem to have the same venom they once did.

The game has also evolved over that time. When Tsitsipas first came on tour, his aggressive style of play was very effective. However, players have adapted to this style now, with emerging talents like Lorenzo Musetti and Arthur Fils beating him multiple times in recent months. 

Tsitsipas himself acknowledged this. After his shock defeat to Alex Michelson at the Australian Open earlier this year, he stated that the game "wasn't as physical" back in 2018 as it is now, and that he didn't have to "exceed the most extreme version" of himself.

He pointed to experience as a potential solution to his recent form slump.

"It’s a constant puzzle. I'm ambitious, and I want to prove it on the tennis court. Things have definitely changed over the last couple of years, and I know that I find myself in a completely different position now. I just need to use my experience a little bit more wisely," he said after his Roland-Garros defeat.

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Tsitsipas did make one change, however, that brought him instant success. 

Trialling a new, blacked-out racquet that resembled a Babolat Pure Aero 98, he blasted his way to a first ATP 500 title in Dubai, upping the speed and power on his groundstrokes.

He re-entered the top-10 for the first time since May last year, playing with a reinvigorated game style and renewed sense of purpose.

Strangely, however, he struggled to retain this form during the clay court swing, and swiftly returned to his Wilson Blade 98 in Rome.

Tsitsipas explained the reasoning behind his decision. 

"It’s mainly trying to go back to what feels comfortable to me and what I know best," he said after his shock defeat to Gigante in Paris.

"I had a few disappointing results on the previous clay court tournaments with it, and I felt like perhaps I didn't deserve to lose matches in that particular way that I did. I felt like I kind of gave away the match. Unforced errors were kind of out of control in those two, three matches that I had.

"I might have actually played good matches with it on clay… but I didn't have a great feeling with it, so I chose to go back to something that feels comfortable and I know best, something that works and has served me pretty well on clay the last couple of years."

While the decision to return to his trusty Wilson might seem like a hasty one, this statement gives the impression that he could still experiment on other surfaces. He may have to.

At 26-years-old, Tsitsipas still has time. After all, the great Stan Wawrinka didn't have his peak five year stretch until he was 27-32 years of age. And, of course, Novak Djokovic won 18 of his 24 Grand Slams after the age of 26.

Perhaps these are unfair examples. After all, Stan was definitely more of an exception than the norm, and Novak is, well, Novak.

All this being said, Tsitsipas hasn't lost his self-belief. 

"I still want to be the best player in the world," the 2021 Roland-Garros finalist asserted.

For Tsitsipas to re-establish his foothold at the upper echelon of men's tennis, however, something drastic must change.

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