Coach Darren Cahill ‘Proud’ of Jannik Sinner’s Ability to Come Back Stronger After Upsets

Jannik Sinner suffered a shock exit at the French Open. In spite of leading two sets to love up against Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the second round and needing just one game to win the match, he ended up losing in five sets, all because he was hit by full-body cramps.

Sinner was chasing the Career Grand Slam milestone in Paris. Last year, he made the final for the first time and was on the brink of winning but ended up squandering three match points in the fourth set and eventually lost to Carlos Alcaraz.

Both times, last year and this year, Sinner bounced back from those setbacks by winning at Wimbledon. He took his revenge on Alcaraz last year, while this year, he overcame a set deficit to register his 10th consecutive win over Alexander Zverev.

His coach, Darren Cahill, is very proud of his ability to bounce back stronger after upsets. At the press conference after protege’s title defense at SW19, the Aussie coach said:

What makes us most proud is his ability to bounce back. He has taken some tough hits over the years, like the match points lost to Carlos or what happened this year at Roland Garros. But the next day, he always calls us to ask: ‘What do we do now? When do we train again? What’s the next goal?’ That’s his way of understanding tennis and life. Every time he takes a blow, he comes back even stronger.

What’s the next goal? Cahill said Sinner does have the intention to feature at the Canadian Open, which he skipped last year.

Sinner is on a 34-match winning streak in Masters 1000s, having won the first five tournaments of the season at this level as well as last year’s Paris Masters. He is also the second man after Novak Djokovic to complete the Career Golden Masters. It’s Djokovic whom Sinner eliminated in straight sets in the semifinals.

Jannik Sinner on his emotions after his Wimbledon title defense

Jannik Sinner, right after winning the last point of the match against Alexander Zverev in the final, collapsed on the ground and covered his face amidst the applause from the Centre Court crowd. At the press conference after his title defense, Sinner was asked to describe how different his emotions were this time compared to his first four Grand Slam wins.

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.

Sinner is the 10th man in the Open Era to win back-to-back titles at the All England Club. He is also the eighth man in the Open Era to win at Wimbledon without competing in a warm-up tournament on grass.

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. 

Jannik Sinner added

It was his first Grand Slam win since last year’s victory at Wimbledon. The World No.1 has now added six titles to his trophy cabinet this year after his wins in Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Madrid, and Rome.

Sinner has improved his head-to-head record over Zverev to 11-4. They played for the fifth time this year. For Sinner, it was his third title on grass. Zverev has never won a trophy on the surface and had never reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon before this season.

Also read: Martina Navratilova Sees Inconsistent Play as Reason Why Novak Djokovic Is Yet to Win Another Grand Slam