Goran Ivanisevic blasts Stefanos Tsitsipas after Wimbledon exit: “Never seen such a poorly prepared player” 

Talk about brutal honesty. Goran Ivanisevic didn’t hold back in his scathing assessment of Stefanos Tsitsipas, calling out his player’s lack of preparation and fitness after a disappointing first-round exit at Wimbledon.

The No. 24 seed was trailing 6-3, 6-2 against Valentin Royer on Monday when he was forced to retire due to a flare-up of his lower back injury. Tsitsipas took a medical timeout in the second set but was unable to continue, sending Royer through to the second round. He joined a wave of seeded casualties—23 in total across the men’s and women’s draws in the tournament’s first two days—including Alexander Zverev, Holger Rune and Daniil Medvedev.

Read More: Stefanos Tsitsipas hits "limit" after Wimbledon retirement: "There's no point to competing"

Speaking in his post-match press conference, a despondent Tsitsipas admitted he saw “no point to competing” in his current condition and was “absolutely left with no answers” after trying everything to reverse his slump.

But Ivanisevic, the 2001 Wimbledon champion and Tsitsipas’ recently appointed coach, offered a bluntly different perspective.

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. Ivanisevic on Tsitsipas

“It’s a really simple situation,” he told SportsKlub in a candid interview from London. “It’s simple and it’s not simple. I’ve talked to him many times.

“If he solves some things outside of tennis then he has a chance of being back where he belongs. He’s too good a player to be out of the Top 10. If not, then he has no chance.

“My duty is to fix some technical things on the court, that’s the easiest thing. This other stuff, he has to fix on his own.”

Those so-called “things outside of tennis” remain vague. They may refer to long-simmering personal issues, including Tsitsipas’ strained relationship with his father and longtime coach Apostolos Tsitsipas, whom he split from last year after a courtside argument. It may also allude to rumors surrounding a possible breakup with Paula Badosa—though neither player has addressed the speculation.

Read More: Stefanos Tsitsipas, after on-court "confrontation" with father, says that Apostolos is no longer his coach

Whatever the case, Ivanisevic also highlighted another, bigger area of concern: Tsitsipas’ physical condition. And once again, he didn’t mince words.

“The desire is there, but he does nothing to improve things. It’s all ‘I want it, I want it’ but I don’t see any progress,” Ivanisevic said.

“He has to find a solution for his back issue. I was shocked. I’ve never seen such a poorly prepared player in my life!

“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.”

Ivanisevic joined Team Tsitsipas last month, following the Greek’s second-round exit at Roland Garros to Matteo Gigante. He previously coached Novak Djokovic, and briefly worked with Elena Rybakina at the start of the season.

After another early Grand Slam loss, Tsitsipas himself hinted at an uncertain future. Speaking to reporters in London, he said surgery was no longer an option for his back and that a decision looms.

“Myself, as a person, I have a limit at some point, so I'll definitely have to have my final answer on whether I want to do stuff or not in the next couple of months,” Tsitsipas said.

“This is going to be hard, but if I see it going in that trajectory, there is no point at competing. I've talked about health so many times… If health is not there, then your whole tennis life becomes miserable.”