Jannik Sinner’s coach Darren Cahill believes the Italian learned how to beat Novak Djokovic after his defeat in last year’s Wimbledon semi-finals.
In revealing comments following Sinner’s convincing win against Djokovic in the Australian Open semi-finals, Cahill suggested the 22-year-old who will compete in his first Grand Slam final against Daniil Medvedev in Sunday worked out the puzzle to beat the world No 1 on Wimbledon’s Centre Court last July.
Sinner may have been well beaten in that match, but it seems he understood what was needed to get past the seemingly invincible world No 1.
“I think the match he played against Novak at Wimbledon went a long way to teaching Jannik where he needed to get better,” said the highly-respected Cahill, who has also worked with Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewett and Simona Halep.
“When he was up two sets to love and lost that five-set match against Novak, you’re able to sit down with him and talk about where the improvements needed to be made, and credit to him, he absorbed it.
“He gets on the practice court, he takes the information, and he loves to work on things that are going to make him a better tennis player.
“For us, as coaches, it was really rewarding to sit there and see him do some of those things. We knew that Novak was struggling in the first couple of sets. Everybody could see that.
“But we also knew that Novak was going to make a huge push in the third and fourth sets. He did an amazing job.
“I think Jannik started really good in the first two sets. Novak was making a lot of unforced errors, so was quite strange because was looked a little bit wary. Novak wants to play really aggressively and make few mistakes, so for Jannik was a good start.”
When asked what qualities Sinner has to reach the top of the game, Cahill suggested it is a combination of many factors.
“The work ethic, purpose, desire, willingness to learn, tennis IQ of all those champions is fantastic,” added Cahill.
“Jannik has all that. He’s got a sense of humour. I think you can get a bit of a sense for it on the court in after-match interviews. We see it every single day.
“He’s a good guy, and he’s a fun-loving guy. He likes to be around people he enjoys, whether that be before we started working with him or with us in our team at the moment. We have a really good feeling within the team.
“Whether he wins or loses, you know, we’ve taken our shares of losses, tough losses, as well, but nothing changes within the team. Everybody enjoys each other’s company. It’s been really important for him to enjoy the journey as well.
“He’s got the qualities I believe that a lot of the great champions in the game have, but you’ve got to start winning to let that come to fruition. So he’s making little steps. He had a good finish to the year last year. He gained a lot of belief from what he was able to do.
“He had some pretty poor records, head-to-head records against some of the players up until last year, and he was able to knock down a couple of hurdles and get a win over Tsitsipas, get a win over Medvedev, get a win over Djokovic.
“And they’re important wins because when you play a certain style of tennis and you keep taking losses, you can’t keep doing the same thing. You have to change and your game has to evolve.
“That’s what Jannik has been attempting to do for the last couple of years. That’s a great quality and that’s what he needs to continue to do. Never stop evolving and never stop getting better.
“He still has one match to go here. Whoever he plays in the final is going to be an incredibly tough match. I actually think he has a losing head-to-head record against both of those players. We took a tough loss against Zverev at the US Open last year, and we have incredible respect for both of those guys.
“So it’s step by step and just trying to keep knocking over those hurdles. The important thing for him is he’s going to treat today like tomorrow and like the next day and just have fun and enjoy himself.