Darren Cahill has dismissed claims that Jannik Sinner and Andre Agassi are comparable after revealing his pride in the Italian for reaching a second consecutive Australian Open final.
The world number one has a chance of winning a third consecutive Grand Slam on hard courts as he defeated Ben Shelton in straight sets.
It was a performance that Cahill was proud of Sinner for as the Italian prepares to defend his title, “I think it’s not easy to come back and defend a major for the first time in your career. He’s had some stuff to deal with. We couldn’t be prouder of the way that he’s conducted himself, both on and off the court, the fight he’s shown, the resilience,” Cahill started the press conference by saying.
“I know he’s just 23 years of age, but sometimes it feels like he’s much older and wiser than what we are. He’s an incredible young man. It’s no surprise to us to see him back in the final. I think that his level has been great for a long time now, but his level here in Australia is even better. He loves playing in Australia.
“So he had his hands full tonight against an incredible young player that we are going to see a lot more of deep into the second weeks of majors or even semis and finals or even winning some of these as well. Every time we see Ben, he continues to improve as a player. So we knew before this match he was going to have his hands full against Ben. No one was disappointed. I thought it was an incredible three sets.”
This is the last year that Cahill will coach Sinner as the Australian will retire from coaching at the end of this year.
They have been through the highs of winning two Grand Slam titles and achieving world number one status.
There has also been the lows of the WADA case and Sinner testing positive for a banned substance.
Speaking about Sinner’s character, Cahill said what will be will be and he spoke about the vulnerable side of the Italian, “Nobody’s bulletproof. I think we all have moments when it gets to you a little bit, as well. I think to a large extent, he finds playing tennis matches to be his safe place,” Cahill explained.
“That’s where he can go and do his thing and feel like this is what he knows, this is what he understands, what is what he’s good at. It become a home for him to step on to the court and play tennis. Yeah, there’s been a lot of pressure around him for the last nine months now, since April last year. He deals with it as well as anybody that I’ve ever seen deal with pressure.
“He’s an amazing young man that’s been able to put that to one side. Part of the reason – you had a great line at the US Open. What was the line? His conscience is clear, you said. I stole that from you. He has a clear conscience with what’s going on. That’s the main reason he’s been able to go onto the court and walk tall and have that belief and play with the confidence that he has because he has a clear conscience.
“What will be will be. We don’t know what’s going to happen, but he can always hold his head up high and be proud of what he’s been able to achieve. I know that the people back home in Italy can be damn proud of him, as well.”
Meanwhile on the court, many people have compared Sinner’s game to Andre Agassi’s but Cahill has dismissed those claims stating there are differences between the two, “They play similar in ways, but in other ways completely different. No two players are the same. No two players see a tennis match the same way. We spoke to Andre today by coincidence. He’s a big fan of Jannik’s, loves the ways he plays,” the Australian claimed.
“Always hearing words from him about what he sees from Jannik’s game and where the improvements are coming from and where he still feels there could be more improvement in Jannik’s game. We got into a deep conversation at lunchtime today. I left that conversation.
“We got to play the semis tonight, so we’ll have this conversation later. I think that Andre is an incredible champion of the game who won eight majors, every major and a gold medal. So Jannik is far from that. He’s on the way, like a couple of other players as well. There are similarities but they’re also very different people.”
Now Cahill will aim to finish his last Australian Open as a coach with another trophy to his name with Sinner taking on Alexander Zverev on Sunday.
Ahead of Sunday’s clash, Cahill is confident in his player but knows the challenge ahead of them, “Alexander is older, right? He’s a physical beast. He’s put those years of work into his body. Yeah, he is a great athlete and has a great five-set record. Jannik’s is improving. He’s getting better physically,” the Australian said ahead of the clash.
“He’s somewhat of a late developer with the body that he had and has grown. He is about 6’4″ now. I think even listed on the ATP website two years ago at 6’2”. He’s going to get better as time goes along. He’s in the final of another major. He’s proven he’s been able to win five-set matches in big matches at majors. We don’t have any concern that he’s going to be able to run out five sets if it needs to be five sets.
“Best player will win. They’re both physically prepared. They’re both incredible athletes. It’s the No. 1 and 2 in the world, so it’s the perfect final as far as the rankings are concerned. A great challenge for both players. As I said before, in today’s match he has enormous respect. He knows how good Ben is going to be in the future. He’s already a great player, but how much improvement can come from Ben.
“Alexander has been around doing this for years. He’s going to be a really tough opponent for Jannik. We can’t wait to see how it goes. I think it’s going to be a great match. Different challenges come from different opponents. Getting that Alexander Zverev’s serve back is going to be a challenge in itself. We’ll see how we go, but Jannik returned really well tonight.”
Heading into Sunday’s clash Zverev leads the head-to-head 4-2 but Sinner won their last match in Cincinnati in a last set tiebreak.