At Wimbledon, Tsitsipas retired during his first-round Wimbledon clash with Valenin Royer. Frustrated, Ivanisevic went rogue, publicly accusing Tsitsipas of neglecting his fitness, and his career in general. The 54-year old Croatian coach said that left him unable to perform his “duty” as a coach.
“I was shocked. I’ve never seen such a poorly prepared player in my life,” Ivanisevic told SportsKlub, a Croatian television network, in a candid interview from London. “Me, at my age and with this bad knee, I’m three times in better shape than him. I’m not sure what he was doing in the previous 12 months, but his current shape is very poor.”
In a few weeks time, Tsitsipas terminated the relationship with an Instagram post. He wrote,
Working with Goran Ivanisevic was brief but an intense experience and a truly valuable chapter in my journey. . . I have only respect for Goran — not just for what he’s achieved in tennis, but also for who he is as a person. I wish him nothing but the very best moving forward.
There’s a lot to be said for the kind of civility Tsitsipas showed in his termination message, and Ivanisevic’s criticism could be interpreted as a betrayal of the confidential nature of the player-coach relationship (There’s a reason many coaches decline to speak with the press). But Tsitsipas’s remarks also point to the unnecessary and often saccharine opacity that accompanies so many pro tour bust-ups.
Fans aren’t owed and certainly don’t need to be privy to personal information and details when players and coaches divorce, but every Instagram post announcing a break doesn’t have to read like a Hallmark greeting card, either. That doesn’t look classy. It looks soft and, of course, disingenuous. More worthy of a politician than an athlete.
