Stefanos Tsitsipas issues legal response after ex-physio’s shocking claims

Stefanos Tsitsipas strongly disagreed with what was said about him and his father in a recent interview with L’Equipe. He is therefore taking legal action against his former physiotherapist Jerome Bianchi.

This week, one of the Greek tennis star’s former teammates made headlines after claiming that the Tsitsipas family operated in “a damaging way,” suggesting that it was a pretty toxic relationship. One of the biggest reasons it garnered so much attention, of course, was the infamous incident that took place between the two-time Grand Slam finalist and his father at the Montreal Masters last month, when he shouted at Apostolos before the latter got up and left the court.

“Their relationship has not been sustainable for years, their way of acting is damaging,” Bianchi told L’Equipe.

After the events in Canada, the former world number 3 decided to end his collaboration with his father.

“Every time Stefanos wanted to break up with his father, his mother would run away and say, ‘You can’t do this to him, he dedicated his life to you.’ And he felt guilty,” the physiotherapist claimed.

In the same interview, Bianchi indicated that the current world number 11 was probably aware that he needed a new coaching voice and something different, otherwise he would never achieve his goals.

“He realises he is getting older and that his career is not what it should have been,” Bianchi added.

Tsitsipas family responds to Bianchi

A few days after the interview was published, the 11-time ATP champion did not want to sit still and instead decided to take legal action. In a statement, it was made clear that the family of the Greek tennis star did not appreciate what was being said about them at all.

“With regard to the republication 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 law firm Papathanasiou-Confino (Paris) to take the necessary legal steps to restore the family’s reputation and dignity, which have been damaged by the statements of the physiotherapist in question. You will be informed shortly of the development of the case,” read a statement to the Greek publication Tennis24.

Tsitsipas lashed out at his father, but later expressed his regret

After a disappointing quarter-final defeat at the Paris Olympics to Novak Djokovic, in which the 26-year-old missed a number of good chances, he returned to action at the Montreal Masters. And in Canada, the former world number three had a very short season after Kei Nishikori shocked him 6-4 6-4 in his opening match.

But the Greek’s loss wasn’t the worst thing that happened that day, as all the focus was on a tense moment between him and his father during the first set. Later, Tsitsipas was sharply critical of Apostolos, saying he wasn’t a good listener or didn’t know how to react in certain situations.

“I’ve been complaining about it to my coach 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 that. For me, an ATP Master 1000 match is an important match. I need and deserve a coach who listens to me and hears my feedback as a player,” he said about the tense moment in Montreal in his post-match press conference.

“My father is not very smart or very good at dealing with situations like that, it’s not the first time he’s done that. I’m really disappointed in him. I really don’t know at this point if I would consider changes, but I’m really disappointed. The most important thing for a player is direct and good feedback from a coach.”

After hinting that a split was on the cards, it didn’t take long for that decision to become official, as the next day the Tsitsipas announced that he had decided to split with Apostolos as coach. In his message 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 much more calmly than he did.

“I realized that I was wrong to talk to my father in this way. I have trusted my father with the role of coach for so many years and I consider our collaboration a success. I am not sure who will take over and I am 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 is not yet clear whether it will be a full-time partnership.