{"id":295088,"date":"2023-11-12T21:39:04","date_gmt":"2023-11-12T21:39:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=295088"},"modified":"2023-11-12T21:39:04","modified_gmt":"2023-11-12T21:39:04","slug":"stefanos-tsitsipas-brutally-dug-out-as-bleak-australian-open-prediction-made","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/tennis\/stefanos-tsitsipas-brutally-dug-out-as-bleak-australian-open-prediction-made\/","title":{"rendered":"Stefanos Tsitsipas brutally dug out as bleak Australian Open prediction made"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Stefanos Tsitsipas\u00a0has already been told that he could expect a sour start to next season at the Australian Open. The Greek star started 2023 by reaching the final in Melbourne but Greg Rusedski believes he could suffer an early exit on the same stage come January. In a brutal assessment, the Prime Video commentator claimed that Tsitsipas was going \u201cbackwards\u201d following his ATP Finals defeat to Jannik Sinner.<\/p>\n

Tsitsipas suffered a one-sided 6-4 6-4 loss to Sinner to start his ATP Finals campaign on Sunday, only winning 10 points on the 22-year-old\u2019s serve. The world No 6 is still alive in the tournament thanks to the round-robin format, meaning he has at least two more matches to play and can still advance to the semi-final depending on the results of others in his group.<\/p>\n

It was an impressive display from Sinner on serve as he fired down nine aces during the 85-minute match but retired pro Rusedski was still alarmed by Tsitsipas\u2019 lack of progression. \u201cYou look at both players, Sinner has improved out of sight, Tsitsipas has gone backwards,\u201d the former world No 4 told Prime Video.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe backhand isn\u2019t very good. Sinner basically knows exactly what he needs to do to beat this man and it was very one-sided. And Sinner will be absolutely delighted to come through so easily today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Click here to join our WhatsApp community to be the first to receive breaking and exclusive tennis news<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just in <\/strong> Nick Kyrgios ends war of words with rapper Drake after Wimbledon blame[LATEST] <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A few months ago, Tsitsipas would have been the favourite in a match-up against Sinner – especially after starting the year by reaching his second Grand Slam final at the Australian Open. But Rusedski now thinks that the 10-time title winner is worlds away from the player he was at the start of the season.<\/p>\n

The former British tennis star also referenced Tsitsipas\u2019 see-saw coaching situation this year, as he brought Mark Philippoussis into the team in January ahead of his Australian Open run before they parted ways in Spring. The pair linked up again in August but they split up again a few weeks later and Tsitsipas rehired his father Apostolos.<\/p>\n

Rusedski continued: \u201cI think the first six months of the year he was brilliant, down under in Australia he played some of the best tennis he\u2019s played in his life. Mark Philippoussis comes back to the team, he wins in [Los] Cabos.<\/p>\n