Stefanos Tsitsipas certainly didn’t like at all what was said about him and his father in a recent interview for L’Equipe as he is now taking legal action against his former physiotherapist Jerome Bianchi.
This week, one of the Greek tennis star’s ex-team members made the headlines after he claimed that the Tsitsipas family was operating in “a harmful way” and suggesting that it was a pretty toxic relationship. Of course, one of the biggest reasons why it drew so much attention was because of the infamous incident that happened last month between the two-time Grand Slam finalist and his dad at the Montreal Masters, when he shouted at Apostolos before the latter stood up and left the court.
“Their relationship has not been sustainable for years, their way of operating is harmful,” Bianchi told L’Equipe.
After what went down in Canada, the former world No. 3 decided to call quits on his working relationship with his dad.
“Every time Stefanos wanted to break up with his father, his mother ran and said, ‘You can’t do this to him, he dedicated his life to you’. And he found himself feeling guilty,” the physio claimed.
In the same interview, Bianchi indicated that the current world No. 11 probably realized that he needed a new coaching voice and something different or otherwise he would never achieve his goals.
“He realizes that he is getting on in age and that his career has not been what it should have been,” Bianchi added.
The Tsitsipas family responds to Bianchi
A couple of days after the interview was published, the 11-time ATP champion didn’t want to sit silently and instead decided to legally address the situation. In a statement, it was made clear that the Greek tennis star’s family didn’t appreciate at all what was said about them.
“Regarding the republishing of the article of the French newspaper ‘L’Equipe’ containing statements by the former physiotherapist of Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jerome Bianchi, with whom the collaboration ended in 2022, we would like to inform you that the Tsitsipas family has instructed the Papathanasiou-Confino law office (Paris) to take the necessary legal actions, so as to restore the prestige and dignity of the family, affected by the statements of the physical therapist in question. You will be informed soon about the development of the case,” a statement given to the Greek publication Tennis24 read.
Tsitsipas ripped his father but afterward expressed some regrets
After a disappointing Paris Olympics quarterfinal defeat to Novak Djokovic where the 26-year-old missed out on some good chances, he returned to action at the Montreal Masters. And in Canada, the former world No. 3 had a very short-lived campaign after Kei Nishikori upset him 6-4 6-4 in his opening match.
But the Greek’s loss wasn’t the worst thing that happened that day because all the focus was on a tense moment that occurred between him and his dad during the first set. Later, Tsitsipas offered some scathing criticism of Apostolos, saying he wasn’t a good listener or knew how to react properly in certain situations.
“I’ve already been complaining to my coach about it for the last four-five days. That was also the reason why I had a confrontation with him during the match, I’m not used to it. For me, an ATP Master 1000 match is an important match. I need and I deserve a coach that listens to me and hears my feedback as a player,” he said said about the tense Montreal moment in his post-match presser.
“My father hasn’t been very smart or very good at handling those situations, it’s not the first time he has done that. I’m really disappointed at him. I really don’t know right now if I’d consider any changes, but I’m really disappointed. The most important thing for a player is to have direct and good feedback from a coach.”
After indicating that the split may be on the cards, it didn’t take long for that decision to be officially made as the following day the Tsitsipas announced that he decided to split with Apostolos as coach. In his message that was posted on social media, the two-time Grand Slam finalist apologized to his father for his behavior during their dramatic Montreal moment and acknowledged that he probably should have reacted in a much calmer way than he did.
“I realized I was wrong to talk to my father the way I did. I have trusted my father with the coaching role for so many years and I consider our partnership a success. I’m not sure who will take over, and I’m not in a position to decide yet,” the Greek tennis star said.
Since then, Tsitsipas has been working with Greek Davis Cup team captain Dimitris Hatzinikolaou but it’s unclear if it’s a full-time collaboration yet.
