The incredible revelations of Tsitsipas's mother: "He was beaten at school"

Keeping the waters calm around the team and family of Stefanos Tsitsipas seems, at times, like an impossible mission. Even though Apostolos, his father, is no longer his main coach, there is always someone in the family circle willing to step into the spotlight and speak out in the media, sometimes revealing deep-seated secrets and issues, causing the media spotlight to shine brighter than ever on the Greek figure. This time it was his mother, Yulia Salnikova, who spoke with ANT1's and addressed some personal and professional relationship issues.

Yulia and Apostolos' presence in Tsitsipas's career has been nearly constant. Since the Greek emerged on the professional circuit, he has rarely been seen without at least one of them on his support team, leading to some quite controversial episodes involving arguments and disputes. All of this seems to have come to an end following the decision to dismiss Apostolos as Stefanos's head coach, something Yulia discussed at length, revealing tensions in the father-son relationship... for over four years!

"There were distractions in Stefanos's life that made him happy. He is a professional, and although he loves his father very much, he realized he needed a new coach. Since 2020, when he lost at the US Open, we and Apostolos decided Stefanos would change coaches. However, four years passed, and Stefanos achieved good results. Nevertheless, I believe Stefanos and Apostolos didn't have a good relationship since then, they had constant conflicts, and that's why Stefanos ended up deciding to change his coach. We don't see it as a tragedy; we are a very close-knit family. Apostolos didn't realize he was putting too much pressure on Stefanos; he only had tennis on his mind."

The statements are certainly noteworthy: in fact, the defeat Yulia mentions was quite significant, as at that US Open 2020, which was played behind closed doors due to the COVID pandemic, Tsitsipas lost to Borna Coric in a match where he asked his father to leave the stadium during the game. Yulia went further, delving into Stefanos's character and personality, making a tremendous revelation about his childhood.

"When he was a child, Stefanos also played soccer, but he eventually chose tennis, which was a good decision. He was a very calm and shy boy. Due to sports, he skipped some classes, and the kids in his class were not his friends; it was impossible to call them that as they treated him very poorly. There were two or three kids in his class who sometimes hit him. It wasn't easy for Stefanos, but he overcame it because tennis was on his mind, and that drove him forward. Tennis helped him a lot."

YULIA, KEY TO TSITSIPAS' REUNION WITH BADOSA

Lastly, Yulia also discussed the relationship between Tsitsipas and Badosa, stating that she acted as an 'intermediary,' siding with the Spaniard when they went through their first breakup several months ago: "The most important thing is that Stefanos is very happy to be back with Paula Badosa. If he is happy, so am I. When they broke up, we went through tough times; I sided with Paula, we talked, and that's how they got back together." Meanwhile, the Greek is gearing up for the 2024 Laver Cup, debuting today against Thanasi Kokkinakis.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Las increíbles revelaciones de la madre de Tsitsipas: "Fue golpeado en la escuela"