Stefanos Tsitsipas’ career has hit a significant crossroads in 2025, with the Greek star appearing to be a shadow of his former self.
The ATP Tour star’s relationship with his parents, Apostolos Tsitsipas and Julia Salnikova, has been more scrutinised than ever recently, but who exactly are the two figures?
We look at the influence Tsitsipas’ parents have had on his life and his career – and why they have attracted controversy at times.
Who are Apostolos Tsitsipas and Julia Salnikova?
The life and relationship of Tsitsipas’ mother and father has been defined by tennis; without the sport, the two would never have met.
Apostolos, born in 1967, played football and basketball as a child and young adult and briefly considered a professional football career, though he switched his full focus to tennis aged 20.
Studying sports science at the University of Athens, he never achieved an ATP Tour ranking, though he remained involved with the sport.
It was while he was a line judge at a WTA Tour event in Athens that he first met Salnikova, who was in the tournament as a player; the two would marry in 1991.
Half Russian and half Greek, Salnikova – the daughter of Russian football legend Sergei Salnikov – was born in 1964 and, after competing as a diver as a child, later switched to tennis.
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Salnikova represented the Soviet Union multiple times in Fed Cup (now Billie Jean King Cup) action across the early 1980s, making her debut when she was just 15 years old in 1980.
She spent most of the decade absent from tour while studying journalism at Moscow State University, though she returned to action as a Greek citizen in 1990.
Salnikova reached a career-high of world No 194 that year, and played on the WTA Tour until 1992.
Together, Apostolos and Julia have four children: Stefanos (born 1998), Petros (2000), Pavlos (2005), and Elisavet (2008).
Coaching career and controversy
Considering their own interest in the sport, it comes as no surprise that all four Tsitsipas children have played the sport.
They introduced Stefanos to tennis at the age of three, and Apostolos left his career as a tennis instructor and high school teacher when his oldest son began to make serious inroads as a junior aged 12.
Stefanos Tsitsipas has gone on to become by far and away the most successful Greek tennis player of all time, reaching a career-high ranking of world No 3 in August 2021.
The Greek has won 12 ATP Tour titles, including three Masters 1000 crowns in Monte Carlo, and has reached two Grand Slam finals.
He was beaten in the 2021 French Open final by Novak Djokovic, before again losing to the Serbian at the 2023 Australian Open.
Apostolos has remained his son’s primary coach throughout most of his career, but the influence of both himself and Salnikova has attracted criticism in recent years.
Tsitsipas has not come close to reaching a third Grand Slam final since his runner-up finish in Melbourne two years ago, and has fallen out of the top 20 for the first time since 2018.
A handful of high-profile stars have been critical of Apostolos and Julia’s approach in recent years, including former world No 1’s Jim Courier and Mats Wilander.
Courier previously claimed that their frequent input during matches was “hurting [Tsitsipas] more than it’s helping,” while Wilander claimed that Apostolos “needs to get out of there” during a match at the 2022 Australian Open.
Tensions between the two began to flare more and more often during matches, resulting in a dramatic outburst from the Greek at the Canadian Open back in 2024.
That resulted in Tsitsipas ending his coaching relationship with his father, moving on to working with the Greek Davis Cup captain, Dimitris Chatzinikolaou.
Hopes were high for the two-time Grand Slam finalist when it was announced that he would be working with former world No 2 Goran Ivanisevic, though that partnership quickly fell apart.
Now, despite the tension that previously emerged between the two, father and son are back working together.
The former world No 3 has spoken about wanting a more ‘mature’ relationship with his father on tour, though an early Canadian Open exit was not the best start to their renewed partnership
Tsitsipas snapped a three-match losing streak with victory over Fabian Maroszan in his opening match at the 2025 Cincinnati Open, though there is a sense that there is still a long road to travel if he wants to return to the top.
And, all eyes will be on how his father’s return helps or hinders that process.
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