Jannik Sinner successfully defended his Wimbledon title. (Image: Getty)
Jannik Sinner’s coach explained how the world No.1 was able to bounce back from another brutal loss in Paris to be crowned the Wimbledon champion. Twelve months ago, Sinner blew three championship points in the French Open final and lost to Carlos Alcaraz in five sets. But he recovered to beat Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final weeks later.
This year, the Italian wilted in the heat at Roland Garros and suffered a shock five-set defeat to Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the second round. He did not play again until arriving in SW19, and again stormed to the title, this time beating Alexander Zverev 6-7 7-6 6-3 6-4.
And Sinner’s coach Cahill, who has also worked with the likes of Andre Agassi and Andy Murray, said that the team discussed last year’s recovery with Sinner ahead of the final. “Actually, we spoke about that before the match,” the Aussie, 60, said.
“His career at the moment, he’s had an amazing career, for a 24-year-old, to be doing what he’s do, putting himself at the top of the game, to continually get to the latter ends, apart from that Paris tournament, to give himself chances to win these tournaments.
“There’s been a few kicks in the stomach along the way. Tough losses. The match points against Carlos the previous year. What happened to him at Roland Garros this year. But probably what makes us the most proud of him and working with him is the way he comes back from those. It doesn’t put him down for too long.”
And the way Sinner came back from his shock loss to Cerundolo from a set and 5-1 up in Paris this year was by regrouping with his team and calling them to make a plan ahead of Wimbledon.
Jannik Sinner celebrating with his coaching staff. (Image: Getty)
Cahill continued: “Obviously he’s disappointed after those moments. But it’s a day later. We get a phone call. ‘All right, boys, what are we doing? Let’s get back on the court. What are we working towards? What’s the plan? Where are we going? What do we need to do to get better?’
“That’s his attitude in tennis and it is his attitude in life. That’s why he’s so great to work with. We spoke about his resilience in those moments, being able to come back and be bigger, stronger and faster whenever he has a bad moment.
“In this final, he needed that to get through this match because he was tested badly against Zverev today. He showed amazing resilience. If you don’t have those tough moments, maybe you never grow like he’s been able to grow. We look at it as a big positive in his personality.”
And Sinner agreed with his coach, adding: “I think every Grand Slam is different, you know. Different story, different environment, different feelings before the tournament. For me, this one means a lot because was a tough one after Paris again. Last year was also tough. But coming here, I tried to put myself in the best possible position to be as competitive as possible.
“Yeah, we put in a lot of workdays in Monaco, very, very long. Definitely sacrificing a lot of my time and everything to be in this position. Having this achievement, it means a lot to me. Yeah, it was an amazing day today.”