‘Poor performance’, coaching changes – What’s behind Stefanos Tsitsipas’ dip in form after Shanghai loss?

A few days later Mark Philippoussis would be confirmed as returning to Tsitsipas’ coaching team in place of father Apostolos, who was going to be given some “time off”.

Tsitsipas looked primed to attack the summer.

How to explain Tsitsipas’ recent form?

If it doesn’t feel that long ago that Tsitsipas was making his second Grand Slam final at the Australian Open, his performances over the last two months make his Melbourne run feel more distant.

Tsitsipas has just not quite been at the same level as he was earlier this year – and he isn’t shying away from that.

“I won’t blame it on anything. It’s just poor performance after Los Cabos.

“It was just pure competition. My opponent showed better tennis than I did. I want to congratulate him, because, you know, I consider myself a good player, and I don’t want to be a person that can be beaten easily or I’m giving my opponents easy time on the court against me.

“I try to make it as hard as I can, and if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. I move on with my life.”

Tsitsipas headed to Greece from the US Open and didn’t have a great time of it, coming through against world No. 149 Lukas Klein only when his opponent retired, and then losing to world No. 113 Alex Molcan in straight sets.

He then pulled out of the Laver Cup due to injury and instead headed to Beijing, where he lost his opening match at the China Open to Nicolas Jarry. And then to Shanghai, where Humbert added to his collection of career upsets with a three-set win.

It is perhaps telling that the defeats to Jarry and Humbert don’t resonate as huge shocks.

Is it a coincidence that Tsitsipas’ dip in form has coincided with the first major coaching shake-up of his professional career?

The partnership with Philippoussis certainly did not appear to go as planned.

“It was a little bit off tune in many ways,” explained Tsitsipas about splitting with Philippoussis.

“Not having the presence of my dad there felt like I was sort of losing a part of my identity as a player. I wasn’t able to just adjust to the new form or way or teachings or method that were applied by Mark who I admired and liked watching a lot on TV when I was younger.”

Apostolos was in his son’s box for the latest defeat to Humbert, who now has a 3-1 record against Tsitsipas.

As well as coaching changes, Tsitsipas has also had a significant off-court change with the start of his relationship with fellow professional Paula Badosa.

Tsitsipas’ latest run of results may just be a blip, and on another day perhaps a few of the defeats could have gone the other way.

However, the last two months raise the question of where is Tsitsipas in the ATP landscape right?

A few years ago he was up there pushing with Alexander Zverev as one of the leaders of the next generation pushing for a first Grand Slam title. Now 25, Tsitsipas has made two major finals, losing both times to Novak Djokovic, but has also only made it beyond the fourth round at five of the last 12 Grand Slams.

This year he has made the semis at only one Masters 1000 event and has slipped to No. 6 in the rankings, having been at No. 3 in 2021 and earlier this season.

He might seem further from a Grand Slam title than he has been in recent years, and perhaps is aware of that too.

He admitted last month that the “scene has changed” with the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner now pushing Djokovic at the top of the game.

“We’re not so young anymore. [Young players] have tremendous energy and thirst and zero fear. They play freely, they don’t think about anything.”

Tsitsipas is still in a decent position to qualify for the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals, but even that does not look a sure thing.

He is currently in sixth position with a 550-point lead over eighth-placed Holger Rune, who occupies the last qualifying spot.

Can Tsitsipas rediscover his top form before Turin though? Right now he’s not playing at his best, and only his best will do if he wants to stay with Alcaraz, Sinner and Rune as they look to lead the group challenging Djokovic.