Darren Cahill Shares Reasons Behind his Increased Respect for Jannik Sinner After Heartbreaking Roland Garros Final Loss

Jannik Sinner was on the brink of victory at the 2025 Roland Garros, before Carlos Alcaraz mounted a stunning comeback win.

Darren Cahill Shares Reasons Behind his Increased Respect for Jannik Sinner After Heartbreaking Roland Garros Final Loss

Darren Cahill (image via Served with Andy Roddick) Jannik Sinner (image via X)

Jannik Sinner’s coach Darren Cahill recently made an appearance as a guest in the ‘Served with Andy Roddick’ Podcast joining Roddick himself and Jon Wertheim. Cahill, who has been coaching Sinner since 2022, has earlier coached other players such as the likes of Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt, and Simona Halep to Grand Slam victories. 

The subject of this podcast mainly revolved around Sinner’s growth as a player and the momentous Roland Garros final between him and Carlos Alcaraz. Both players demonstrated an extremely high level of tenacity and grit as they battled it out in their first meeting at a Grand Slam final. However, it was the World No. 2 who ultimately defended his title after coming back from two sets down and saving three championship points in the fourth set. 

The Roland Garros final was one for the history books. It marked the second longest Grand Slam final in history and the longest in the history of the tournament. The level of tennis shown in this final, follows in the footsteps of the level of excitement and dominance that the Big 3 brought to the sport. Here is what Cahill had to say about his increased respect for Sinner:

Regardless of the result, I take my hat off to Carlos. He’s an amazing young man. We have an incredible respect for him. But, believe it or not, I’ve been with Jannik for over three years now. I have more respect for him now after watching that match in the Roland Garros final than I had before that and it’s pretty hard to say that because I know him pretty damn well.

It also marked a great revolution in Sinner’s game. This was his second tournament, after coming out of suspension and the hard court specialist marked a strong return to tour as he reached two successive finals on clay.

This was the first time that the World No. 1 reached the final of Roland Garros and it was also his third final on clay. He was the first player, since Rafael Nadal in 2020, to reach the final of the Roland Garros without dropping a set. Sinner’s class act was also seen after his defeat, as he gracefully congratulated Alcaraz and his team for the victory.

Darren Cahill remarks that players are incorporating more sliding

Amongst many other topics that the three discussed on the podcast, Darren Cahill also touched upon how the physicality of the sport has changed. Cahill talked about how players have been incorporating sliding on all surfaces unlike the previous generation, e.g. Roger Federer who dominated grass without much sliding.

Roger Federer, Jannik Sinner
Roger Federer, Jannik Sinner (Images via X)

We’ve seen it on the clay all the time but these guys now don’t care what surface you play on, they’ve incorporated sliding into all their shots. So the getting in and out of the corners are much more efficient than what they used to be.

With the grass season underway, Jannik Sinner is looking to defend his Halle Open title and Carlos Alcaraz is aiming to add another trophy to his cabinet from Queen’s, before the two move on to the Wimbledon championships. Alcaraz will be eyeing a three-peat at Wimbledon.

Also Read: Carlos Alcaraz Believes He Doesn’t Have Any “Mental Advantage” over Arch-Rival Jannik Sinner