Darren Cahill Reveals Taking Inspiration From ‘This’ Tennis Star to Improve Jannik Sinner’s Serve

Coach Darren Cahill opened up about implementing a three-step plan for Jannik Sinner's serve.

Darren Cahill Reveals Taking Inspiration From ‘This’ Tennis Star to Improve Jannik Sinner’s Serve

Jannik Sinner, Darren Cahill (Image via X/Jannik Sinner HQ)

Australian tennis coach Darren Cahill made an appearance as a guest on the ‘Served with Andy Roddick’ podcast, where he was joined by Roddick himself along with Jon Wertheim. Cahill, who has been coaching Jannik Sinner since 2022 alongside Simone Vagnozzi, has earlier coached several other players to Grand Slam victories, which include Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt, and Simona Halep.

Sinner has grown tremendously as a player over the years and the 2025 Roland Garros final was a strong testament to that growth. The Italian, who is otherwise known for his prowess on hard court reached his maiden Roland Garros final without dropping a set en route, becoming the first person since Rafael Nadal in 2020 to do so.

He displayed an extremely high level of tennis, and came very close to victory on several occasions, but was ultimately outclassed by the defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in an epic five-set battle. While speaking on the podcast, Cahill discussed how they improved on the Italian’s technique:

‘We said it was a three-step plan for his serve because it was very off-center and there was no shoulder rotation. So he started with shoulder movement, and then we moved on to swing. He had suffered a crushing loss a year before, a loss he considered to be a loss, against Daniel Altmaier, who had played incredibly well in the second round at Roland Garros (in 2023). He said to himself, ‘We’re going to do this now.’ Within a day, we went to the courts at Roland Garros. He asked me, ‘What should I do?’ At first, we copied John Isner a little bit. It’s not a bad serve to copy.

Sinner’s serve during the Roland Garros final was quite remarkable. The World No. 1 had a fair 70% win percentage on 1st serve as compared to 63% of Alcaraz’s and hit 8 aces as compared to 7 of the Spaniard’s.

Jannik Sinner faced an early exit in Halle

The Roland Garros loss was a tough one for Jannik Sinner to process, one which he admitted has given him sleepless nights. He commenced the grass swing with the Halle Open where he was aiming to defend his title.

Alexander Bublik, Jannik Sinner
Alexander Bublik, Jannik Sinner (Image via X/Jose Morgado, Eurosport)

However, he met with an early heartbreak in Halle when he lost his Round of 16 match to eventual champion Alexander Bublik. Bublik went on to defeat Daniil Medvedev in straight sets in the final to clinch his second Halle Open title. Sinner will now be gearing up for the Wimbledon championships which will commence next week.

Jannik Sinner collaborates for a musical duet

A few days after Jannik Sinner’s Halle Open exit, the 23-year-old featured in a newly released song by maestro Andrea Bocelli, titled ‘Polvere e Gloria’ (Dust and Glory). The composition is a beautiful and allegorical conversation between the two Italian stars, that focuses on their values. As reported by BBC, Sinner is extremely honored to be a part of this duet:

I am very happy and honoured to be part of this project with Andrea, who for 30 years has been a unique and extraordinary voice, a flag for our country in the rest of the world. I could never have imagined hearing my voice in one of his songs. It’s extremely moving.

Snippets of Sinner’s childhood days and skiing days can also be seen throughout the music video. In the video, fans were also quick to spot a childhood photo of Sinner with a fox plushie, the animal that later became his symbol.

Also Read: Toni Nadal Thinks Improvement of ‘This’ Can Help Jannik Sinner Beat Arch-Rival Carlos Alcaraz