Jannik Sinner’s coach, Darren Cahill, compares the Italian with ‘this’ tennis legend after a dominant run of form at the Australian Open

Jannik Sinner has marauded his way to the Australian Open final, and his coach Darren Cahill had an interesting comparison to make.

Jannik Sinner’s coach, Darren Cahill, compares the Italian with ‘this’ tennis legend after a dominant run of form at the Australian Open

Darren Cahill and Jannik Sinner (via BBC)

World No. 1 Jannik Sinner advanced to the Australian Open 2025 finals after defeating Ben Shelton in straight sets at the semifinals. He will face second seed Alexander Zverev in the finals at Rod Laver Arena on 26th January. This highly anticipated match will be their seventh encounter, which interestingly the German leads in their head to head 4-2.

Speaking to the Australian Open Press, Sinner’s coach Darren Cahill was asked if he saw any similarities between Sinner and Andre Agassi, who he coached from 2002 up to his retirement in 2006. Under Cahill, Agassi won his last Grand Slam title at the Australian Open 2003.

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They play similar in ways, but in other ways completely different. No two players are the same. No two players see a tennis match the same way. We spoke to Andre today by coincidence. He’s a big fan of Jannik’s, loves the ways he plays- always hearing words from him about what he sees from Jannik’s game, and where the improvements are coming from, and where he still feels there could be more improvement in Jannik’s game.

Darren Cahill on Jannik Sinner and Andre Agassi via Australian Open Press

At 33, Andre Agassi also became the then-oldest player ever to be ranked world no. 1 in May 2003. The record was later surpassed by Roger Federer in 2018. Darren Cahill has also coached the likes of Andy Murray, Lleyton Hewitt, Ana Ivanovic, Fernando Verdasco, Sorana Cirstea, and Simona Halep.

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Jannik Sinner has been coaching under Darren Cahill since 2022. Their partnership has been tremendously successful, with Sinner achieving significant milestones, including securing the Australian Open and the US Open titles in 2024, and becoming the first Italian to reach the world No. 1 ATP ranking.

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In January 2025, Sinner announced that Cahill would retire from coaching at the end of the 2025 season. Cahill, now 59, has been coaching since 1998, with his first partnership being with fellow countryman Lleyton Hewitt.

Darren Cahill Andre Agassi
Darren Cahill and Andre Agassi (via X)

Under Cahill’s guidance Hewitt eventually became the youngest-ever world No. 1 in 2001. This record was later broken by Carlos Alcaraz in 2022. Carlos Alcaraz was also aiming for another record at the Australian Open, i.e. to be the youngest man to achieve the Career Grand Slam.

We got into a deep conversation at lunchtime today. I left that conversation. We got to play the semis tonight, so we’ll have this conversation later. I think that Andre is an incredible champion of the game who won eight majors, every major and a gold medal.So Jannik is far from that. He’s on the way, like a couple of other players as well.There are similarities but they’re also very different people.

Darren Cahill on Jannik Sinner and Andre Agassi via Australian Open Press

Alcaraz had a heartbreaking loss to Novak Djokovic at the quarterfinals of the tournament, who later on retired after the first set of his semifinal match due to a hamstring injury. However, the Spaniard still has two more years to be the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam until he turns 24 in 2027, the age at which Rafael Nadal accomplished it.

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While an Australian Open 2025 finals without both Djokovic and Alcaraz was rather unexpected, the current pairing between the top ranked players is equally thrilling. Sinner akin to Djokovic has also been going through medical issues throughout the tournament, and it will be interesting to see if the Italian can persevere in the finals despite his setbacks to defend his title.