Jannik Sinner has praised Darren Cahill as his coach is set to retire this year after the Italian successfully defended his Australian Open title.
It’s a second consecutive Australian Open for Jannik Sinner with the world number one defeating Alexander Zverev in straight sets.
The Italian is the eighth player in the Open Era to win his first three Grand Slam finals, continuing his dominance on hard courts.
Speaking after the match Sinner said he is proud of his achievement and spoke about what he has been through over the course of the last two weeks, “All things considered, amazing run again here in Australia. I’m extremely happy. Sharing this with the team here and family and the people I love, it’s amazing,” the Italian stated in his press conference.
“Very proud. It’s actually tough to describe. Many, many things happen off the court, what you maybe don’t know. When I go on the court, even if sometimes it’s very difficult to block these kind of things, I have the team and people who are close to me who trust me. That for me is even more important because I can talk with them, very openly with them.
“That’s it. When I go on court, I try to focus on the match. I know the match can be three, four, five hours, but that’s the gap of the day where I have to be very focused. Obviously also in the gym, trying to stay into your routine, then you think a bit less about what’s happening. Of course, it’s still a little bit in the back of your mind. I know that I’m in this position now.”
It’s a fantastic feeling for Sinner especially spending it with the people that have worked hard with him and the people he loves.
One person that has contributed to Sinner’s success is Darren Cahill with the Australian retiring as a coach at the end of the season.
Speaking about Cahill, Sinner spoke about the Australian’s best attributes and how he has helped the Italian, “Look, he’s a very honest, honest person. To be a good coach with many different players, you have to understand the player and you have to get into the rhythm of the player, what he likes, what he don’t like. It takes for him just some weeks to get into that, and then he’s there,” Sinner explained.
“One thing I really love about him is because he’s very, very humble. He suits into the team very, very good. I tried also to make a good result for him here because being Australian, last Grand Slam as a coach. But I have to say we talk a lot about Darren, but it’s also the Simone part, which is amazing what he’s doing. He changed me as a player.
“He gave me so much confidence that I can do different stuff. I think the combination of two incredibly not only coaches but person, because I feel like you have to be — coaching is important on court but mostly also off the court. They are very, very good in that. I got very lucky to find Darren, to find Simone, and all the rest of the team. We try to keep working, keep believing, and that’s it.”
It’s now back-to-back titles for Sinner as he became the first player since Novak Djokovic in 2021 to defend the title.
The Italian compared the two title wins and what changed this year, “Of course, you have maybe this little extra pressure and attention on your side, which you have to handle. But in the other way, you know that you can do it because you’ve done it once,” Sinner stated.
“You try to understand whatever it is. What I understood this time is every day is different. You have days where you might feel a bit not 100%, and then the next match all of a sudden, Okay, I’m into the tournament. I think I’ve learned many things throughout one year, not watching about result, but how I am as a person and how I handle the situation on the court. Yeah, it is different, though. So I’m very happy to have it.”
Next for Sinner is the CAS hearing into whether the Italian will be banned from tennis with the hearing expected to take place in April.
However the Italian isn’t worried about that and denied claims that the hearing gave him extra motivation to win this year, “Tough to say. I mean, I’m not thinking at the moment about like this. I just came off an amazing run again here. I want to enjoy this moment, to be honest. Then it’s the hearing. We know now the dates, and that’s it. I mean, I want to enjoy this one now,” Sinner said.
“I mean, what happened, happened, no? As I always say, I keep playing like this because I have a clear mind on what happened. If I know if I would be guilty, I would not play like this, and that’s it. I mean, I still believe every time it came out in a very positive way, and I still believe it’s going to be that case. That’s it, no? At the moment I’m not thinking about this. Of course, you have your moments of certain days where you feel like I wish I would not have this problem.
“In the other way, I’m always looking forward to go on court, trying to understand. Now I also need my time off, which is also very important for my body and my mind. Then when I go again back on court, I try to improve.”