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Sam Querrey criticises Stefanos Tsitsipas’ performance after losing to Denis Shapovalov at Indian Wells, raising concerns about Tsitsipas’ career.
Stefanos Tsitsipas hasn’t won a title in the past year (Picture credit: AFP)
2017 Wimbledon semifinalist Sam Querrey has said that Stefanos Tsitsipas looks lost on the court and revealed that after the latter’s opening round defeat to Denis Shapovalov at the Indian Wells on Thursday, Tsitsipas went right to his car and drove away, with his career definitely going off track.
Having lost the first set 2-6, one would have assumed Tsitsipas would fall to a straight-set defeat to Shapovalov.
But Tsitsipas came back strongly to take the second set 6-3 and push the match to a decider. But once Shapovalov broke him at the fag end of the third set, he couldn’t make a comeback and lost it 4-6.
“Shapovalov’s beaten Tsitsipas five times in a row on hard courts. And Tsitsipas looks lost. After the match, he went right to the car and drove away. So I don’t know, what do you think he needs to do Steve, to get the trains back on the track?” Querrey said while speaking on the Nothing Major podcast.
Former US tennis star Steve Johnson said that Tsitsipas’ groundstrokes lack pace and added that the Greek relies too much on defence despite not being among the sport’s elite movers.
“Tsitsipas isn’t hitting the ball as big. He isn’t hitting it as heavily, so guys are getting more chances to go attack it. It generally feels as if he is on the defensive. He isn’t hitting the ball as cleanly, so the backhand is kind of spinny and it is just kind of sitting in the middle of the court,” Johnson said.
“And his movement was never world-class. He is a good mover, but now that he is struggling with pace and not getting opponents on the move on his terms, his playing defence is not a recipe for success in the long term,” Johnson added.
Tsitsipas suffered an opening-round exit at the Dubai Championships, a week after he finished as a quarterfinalist at the Qatar Open.
March 08, 2026, 08:40 IST
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