Wimbledon, England — Greece’s Stefanos Zitzpas said he has no answer to his ongoing fitness issues after being forced to retire from Wimbledon’s first round match on Monday due to a back injury.
Old World No. 3 Tsitsipas, sowed 24th in London, followed 6-3, 6-2 to French qualifiers Valentin Royer when they deemed sufficient.
“I’ve been fighting a lot of wars recently,” said Tsitsipas, who finished second in the Grand Slam event. “It’s really painful to see myself in a situation like this. It feels like the answer is gone. I don’t know. I’ve tried everything.
“I did an incredible job in my fitness. I’ve done an incredible job in physical therapy, so I maximized everything I could. Now I have absolutely no answers left.”
Tsitsipas said he has suffered from declining injuries since withdrawing from the ATP Tour Finals in 2023.
He has only reached one quarter in the last nine Grand Slam tournaments, and his hopes to play in the US seem at risk.
Tsitsipas, who recently started working with Novak Djokovic’s former coach Golan Ivanisevic, said: “There are restrictions at some point so I definitely need my final answer as to whether I want to do something in the next few months.
“Tennis is a spinning sport. If you can’t spin, there’s no reason to play it.”
Reuters contributed to this report.