Jannik Sinner Reveals Why He Swore at Coach Darren Cahill During Paris Masters: “Sometimes I Am Not Easy”

There was some tension between Jannik Sinner and his coach, Darren Cahill, when the Italian ace was locking horns with Ben Shelton in the Paris Masters quarterfinals. During a Nike event in Turin, Sinner explained his conduct.

Sinner is in Turin for the ATP Finals, where he will aim to defend his title. Prior to Turin, the four-time Grand Slam champion was in Paris for the last Masters 1000 of the season, where he clinched the title for the first time by defeating Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime.

In the quarterfinals against Shelton, Sinner wanted his team to shout and encourage him and yelled, “Why are you f*****g sitting?” at Cahill and the rest of the team members.

Sometimes, I’m not easy; I’m nervous. Sometimes, I want more support, and sometimes, less support. And they do too much, so it’s very difficult to read me.

Jannik Sinner said during the Nike event

Sinner was sitting along with Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi, his other coach. While Sinner was explaining, the Aussie coach interrupted, “It’s my fault actually,” to which the 24-year-old said, “No, it isn’t“.

Yes, it is, because we coaches need to understand when it’s the right moment… No one is trying to be perfect; he’s a tennis player, trying new things, we learn from it, and we try to get better.

Darren Cahill added

Cahill is expected to leave Sinner’s team after this season, as the latter earlier this season announced the end of the partnership. But the World No.1 wants Cahill in his entourage and often revealed how he and Vagnozzi are inducing him to remain a part of his team. Serena Williams’ former coach, Rennae Stubbs, believes Sinner “might throw a lot of money” at Cahill to keep him.

Jannik Sinner recalls difficult days after Roland Garros defeat

Jannik Sinner suffered probably the biggest heartbreak of his career when he lost the five-set thriller to arch-rival Carlos Alcaraz despite winning the first two sets and having three championship points in the fourth set. But Sinner squandered those match points, and this haunted him in the aftermath of the match.

In the next two to three days, I was a disaster. I couldn’t sleep. I had no energy during the day as well; I was destroyed. You think you had three match points, why didn’t you serve better? I could’ve played better in the fifth set; Carlos also played so, so well. This is why I decided to go to Halle, and I wasn’t mentally 100% there. In Wimbledon, an important process started; we stayed hours in practice to get used to it. I felt good. In the match versus Grigor [Dimitrov], I was losing, and half a miracle happened there.

Jannik Sinner told Sky Sports

Sinner was down 0-2 in the fourth round against Dimitrov and ended up receiving the walkover as the Bulgarian ace injured his pectoral muscle. After knocking out Ben Shelton in the quarterfinals and seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, Sinner took his revenge on Alcaraz by denying him a three-peat with a four-set win in the championship clash.

But Sinner couldn’t repeat the same in the US Open final, failing to defend his title with a four-set defeat to the six-time Grand Slam champion. The 22-year-old holds a 10-5 head-to-head lead and also met him in the unofficial Six Kings Slam final, where Sinner defended his title by breezing past him.

At the ATP Finals, Sinner is a part of Group Bjorn Borg and will lock horns with Shelton and Alexander Zverev in the round robin stage. Lorenzo Mussetti or Felix Auger-Aliassime will be the eighth player in the draw.

Also read: Jannik Sinner Reflects on the Miracle He Experienced at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships

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