On Tuesday, Stefanos Tsitsipas was upset in his opening Adelaide International match by home favourite Aleksandar Vukic.
Tsitsipas fought hard but was unable to overcome the Australian, eventually losing 7-6, 7-6.
Tsitsipas began the year in red-hot form, winning all three of his singles matches at the United Cup – including a thrilling contest against Billy Harris.
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The Greek star was brought back down to earth on Tuesday, and he will hope to bounce back quickly ahead of the Australian Open.
After a disappointing 2025 campaign, Tsitsipas has big goals for 2026, and he shared those ambitions with reporters in Australia on Tuesday.
Stefanos Tsitsipas wants to contend at all the Grand Slams in 2026
During the post-match press conference, a reporter asked Tsitsipas: “It’s really fine margins when you’re talking two tiebreaks. But after what you did in the United Cup, are you happy, not happy about tonight, but are you happy with the way you’re progressing in this summer?”
I am playing good tennis,” Tsitsipas replied. “I won’t let a result like this define the beginning of my year. I’m just focused on big goals, and I want to accomplish great things this year.
“It all depends on me, how much I’m going to work on the court and the consistency that I’m going to show every single day.
“I have a long year, and I’m looking forward on getting it started in the best possible way.”
The journalist then expanded his line of questioning, adding: “Just lastly, in terms of those goals for the year, is that with the slams, you want to just get back to where you were sort of a couple of years ago at contending at all the slams?
That’s right. That’s my goal,” the Greek star said.
“Playing good in slams, having deep runs, feeling my game, and showing that I still got it. This is exactly it.”
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Tsitsipas will hope to put in a strong campaign at the first Grand Slam event of the year in Melbourne. Since reaching the final in 2023, Tsitsipas has failed to advance past the fourth round.
Last year, the Greek superstar was stunned in the first round by American player Alex Michelsen.
Tsitsipas’ struggles at Grand Slams continued throughout 2025: he failed to make it past the second round at any of the major tournaments.
Stefanos Tsitsipas’ Australian Open debut
In 2017, 19-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas played in Australian Open qualifying for the first time.
In the first round, he defeated wildcard Gavin van Peperzeel 6-2, 6-1, before losing to Bjorn Fratangelo in three sets.
A year later, Tsitsipas made his Australian Open main draw debut; he lost to Denis Shapovalov in straight sets.
Tsitsipas produced his breakthrough performance at the 2018 Australian Open. Seeded 14th, Tsitsipas reached the semi-finals with victories over Matteo Berrettini, Viktor Troicki, Nikoloz Basilashvili, Roger Federer and Roberto Bautista Agut.
In the last four, Tsitsipas was defeated by Rafael Nadal: 6-2, 6-4, 6-0. Novak Djokovic defeated Nadal in the final.
