Jannik Sinner’s coach finds unique way to describe world No 1
Darren Cahill has highlighted one key area where Jannik Sinner has improved since he started working with the Italian as he also gave the world No 1’s rivals some tips on how field can catch up to Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
Legendary coach Cahill, who mentored former world No 1s Lleyton Hewitt and Andre Agassi, teamed up with Sinner in July 2022, not long after Simone Vagnozzi started working with the then rising star.
Together, the two have turned Sinner into one of the best in the business as under their tutelage, he has won two Australian Open titles, one US Open crown and most recently the 2025 Wimbledon trophy.
The 23-year-old has also spent the last 62 weeks at the top of the ATP Rankings as he has been unmovable since becoming the first Italian world No 1 in June 2024.
In an interview with ATP Tour, Cahill explained how the partnership with Vagnozzi works.
“I work hand-in-hand with Simone, he started about six months before I did, and he has been amazing. He had a vision for where Jannik’s game needed to go and we spent a lot of time together working through what technical changes he had to make,” he revealed.
“Anything from a technical point of view, creating more ways for him to develop finishing skills, with his serve a little bit, his transition skills, all the stuff that all the great champions of the sport have in their arsenal.
“Jannik was already a great player, he was already a top-10 player, he hit the ball great from the back of the court, but he needed to work on more avenues to finish points.
“And so we went to work and we a really fortunate that we have a player who wants to get better every single day, he never settles for where he is at the moment, no matter what he achieves and every time he steps onto the court he is looking to improve as a tennis player.”
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One area that Sinner had to up his game was his serve with Cahill explaining why it is crucial to any player who wants to be at the top of the game.
“One thing I did say is, ‘The serve needs to improve. You’re six foot four and you’re a strong lad’,” he revealed. “‘You need to be able to get more miles per hour on that first serve, better direction on that first serve.
“Then not only do you start winning some free points from your first serve, but also your Plus One becomes much more effective. If people can neutralise your serve, you have to work much harder for your points.
“Then his questions came, one after the other ‘How do I get better at the serve? What do I need to do?’ It’s typical of him. He wants to compete. He’s a competition animal.”
Now that he has turned his serve into a weapon, Sinner is dominating tennis along with Alcaraz as the two have separated themselves from the chasing pack. The pair have shared the last seven Grand Slams with Novak Djokovic’s 2023 US Open title run the last time someone else won a major.
Is there anything that their rivals can do to catch up?
Cahill added: “We’re seeing an incredible level of tennis at the moment, with Carlos and Jannik.
“If you look at their body of work over the past couple of years, they’ve separated themselves from the field. Now it’s up to the field to chase, to watch and copycat a little bit, to work a little bit harder and to work on the things they are working on, do what everyone does and that’s try to be as good as the best.
“We are very fortunate as coaches and it has been a wonderful journey so far.”
