Stefanos Tsitsipas comes clean on rehiring dad as coach after ugly public fights

Stefanos Tsitsipas has opened up on his decision to rehire his father, Apostolos, as his coach. The pair had a rocky working relationship for years, full of public spats. Tsitsipas had previously whacked his dad's bench with a racket and hit a ball towards his box during some of their worst arguments, and things came to a head last summer when they ended their professional relationship in Montreal.

Since then, the world No. 29 has worked with Dimitris Chatzinikolaou and even enjoyed a brief, high-profile stint with Goran Ivanisevic. After parting ways with Ivanisevic, he made the controversial call to bring Apostolos back into the team. And Tsitsipas has now shed light on their revived partnership.

The Greek star beat Fabian Marozsan at this week's Cincinnati Open to record his first win since Apostolos returned to his coaching corner, and got candid about their reunion.

"It might not be something smooth that suddenly you see the right outcome out of it, of being back again with my father. That's not really what the whole point is," Tsitsipas told the ATP.

"It is trying to figure out the person who cares the most about me and really is going to spend extra hours on the court, perfecting me, trying to get me as good as possible."

Tsitsipas has changed his tune. Ahead of Wimbledon, when he was still working with Ivanisevic, he suggested that he should have hired the Croatian former world No. 2 years ago.

However, after overcoming some miscommunications with his father, Tsitsipas believes Apostolos is the best man for the job.

Reflecting on their rocky history, the former world No. 3 said: "I feel like I didn't have enough patience anymore as well. I've grown since then. He's grown since then.

"I feel like his perception about certain things has changed towards the better. I'm hoping we can work towards that together, and I'm hoping we can [hear] each other out."

Tsitsipas has not won back-to-back matches since the Barcelona Open in April. After beating Christopher O'Connell to begin his Cincinnati Open campaign, the 26-year-old suggested he needed to make some technical changes, something his dad can help with.

"I'm a technical player, I rely a lot on my technique. I need to have a good technique in order to hit the ball the way I like it," he added.

"In order to be able to do that, I also need someone who has a good eye for it and someone who's going to spend hours on the court trying to clean those shots up and make them as smooth and as effective as possible without overcomplicating things."

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