US Open prediction: A long shot pick at Flushing Meadows

One of the biggest stars in tennis just made a decision that could alter the landscape of the ATP Tour.

I’m talking, of course, about Stefanos Tsitsipas — the World No. 4 and two-time Grand Slam finalist — who has switched coaches for the first time.

For the entirety of his career, Tsitsipas was coached by his father, Apostolos.

The two had a rather contentious working relationship, with Apostolos often receiving criticism for providing coaching to his son during matches — something that was illegal up until last season.

In years past, Tsitsipas has received many warnings from the chair for his father’s coaching, something that has disrupted his rhythm on court, and Apostolos even became the center of attention in Tsitsipas’ loss in the Cincinnati final two years ago when eventual champion Alexander Zverev complained to the chair about Apostolos texting his son during an off-court bathroom break.

It’s not just others who have taken issue with Apostolos — Tsitsipas himself has expressed frustration with his coach on court.

Last November, he hit a ball into his player box, in the direction of Apostolos and his mother Julia, who was a pro on the WTA Tour and helps coach her son.

A couple of years prior, he broke a racquet at the ATP Cup just a foot away from his father, and when a shard from his racquet hit Apostolos, he was scolded by his mother in front of the entire world.

It’s fair to say that working with his father has been a bit of a distraction for Tsitsipas.

“Things that are out of his control are impacting him,” former World No. 1 Jim Courier said on Tennis Channel last year.

Fresh off of his first title of the season in Los Cabos, Tsitsipas announced that he has hired former World No. 9 Mark Philippoussis as his primary coach, and that his father would be taking a break from working with him.

The news has the potential to lift Tsitsipas to new heights, and perhaps to a maiden Grand Slam.

Entering the weekend, Tsitsipas is priced at 22/1 at FanDuel to win the upcoming U.S. Open — a number will assuredly will drop in the coming weeks.

Tsitsipas has made it to the semifinals of Cincinnati in the past three seasons and will now enter the Masters 1000 tournament with a new coach and newfound optimism that he finally can deliver on his sky-high potential.

“There’s much more tranquility and calmness in the air when I’m competing,” Tsitsipas told reporters ahead of this week’s Rogers Cup.

This change should help make Tsitsipas a player at the U.S. Open — where he has never managed to perform well. He was defeated in shocking fashion by Daniel Galan in the first round, and has never made it to the fourth round in Queens.

Though Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev are looking dangerous heading into the U.S. Open, it’s hard to argue that Tsitsipas shouldn’t be the fourth-likeliest to take home the title according to oddsmakers.

There’s a strong chance with his history at Cincinnati that he will enter the U.S. Open as the fourth seed, dodging all three of those names until the semifinals.

He would be favored to take out Jannik Sinner, Holger Rune, Casper Ruud and Zverev.

There’s no reason for his price to be quite this long, and with that Tsitsipas would be a wise bet in the futures market.