Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi have been named Coaches of the Year in the 2023 ATP Awards. They helped Jannik Sinner reach a career-high number 4 in the ATP Ranking.
Sinner won his first Masters 1000 title in Toronto and reached the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin before helping Italy win the Davis Cup. Sinner became the first Italian player to end a season in the top 5.
Sinner finished the year holding a 64-15 record and won two ATP 500 titles in Vienna and Beijing. He reached semifinals in Indian Wells, Monte-Carlo and Wimbledon and the final in Miami. He received the ATP Fans’ Favourite Award.
Sinner reached the quarter finals at all four Grand Slam tournaments in his young career. He lost to Djokovic in the semifinal at Wimbledon one year after losing against his Serbian rival in the quarter final at this tournament after holding a two-set lead. Sinner beat Djokovic at the ATP Finals in Turin in a third set tie-break to clinch his fifth top 5 in a row. One week later Sinner saved three match points in the third set to beat Novak Djokovic in the Davis Cup semifinal. Sinner became the fourth player to beat Djokovic from match points down and the first one to do so with three in a row. Sinner teamed up with Lorenzo Sonego for the decisive doubles match, defeating Djokovic and Miomir Kecmanovic to clinch the tie and help Italy reach the Davis Cup final for the first time since 1998.
Vagnozzi has worked with Sinner since February 2022. The Italian coach trained Marco Cecchinato and Stefano Travaglia.
“I have known Jannik from when he was 14 years old. He played against one of my junior players, so I saw him there for the first time. It’s really nice to coach him because he is a really funny guy. He has a really good character. It’s easy to coach Jannik, also because he wants to improve a lot and go on the court always with a smile and everything, so for a coach it’s very good”, said Vagnozzi.
Cahill joined Sinner’s team in June 2022. The Australian coach worked in the past wit André Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Murray and Simona Halep.
“My role is more about the experience and how to help him mentally in these good moments, and to make sure that we are working on the right stuff and eventually is going to get him to the place we want to be”, said Cahill.
