Riccardo Piatti admits his intentions were to beat ‘this’ player as Jannik Sinner’s coach

Jannik Sinner has beaten Novak Djokovic in four of their last five encounters, including the 2024 Australian Open semifinal.

Riccardo Piatti admits his intentions were to beat ‘this’ player as Jannik Sinner’s coach

Riccardo Piatti and Jannik Sinner (via X)

Jannik Sinner‘s former coach, Riccardo Piatti, has revealed his interest in coaching the World No.1 again in a recent interview. The well-known Italian coach said he used to watch many matches of tennis legend Novak Djokovic and focused on creating game plans to defeat him.

Piatti had also coached Djokovic in the past. This gave him valuable insights into the Serb’s strengths and weaknesses, which helped Sinner. As a result, Sinner has achieved positive results not only against Djokovic but also against many other top players.

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Actually, Alcaraz and Sinner had Nadal and Djokovic as their goals. It was about how to beat them. When I was coaching Jannik, and because I was coaching Djokovic at the time, my goal was to find out how Jannik could beat Djokovic. I watched Nole a lot, I worked with him, and so the idea is always to find someone who can beat a guy like him. I didn’t have the opportunity to coach Nadal or Federer, otherwise the process would have been different. But the idea is always the same, and now it would be to find a young player who, in eight or ten years, could beat Alcaraz or Sinner.

Riccardo Piatti said on Tennis Majors

Throughout his career, Djokovic has rarely struggled consistently against top players. However, he has found it difficult to develop a winning strategy against Sinner since the Italian’s rise in 2024. Sinner has defeated Djokovic in four of their last five matches, including the 2024 Australian Open semifinal.

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Their most recent match was at the Shanghai Open final, where Sinner won in straight sets. They also faced each other at the Six Kings Slam exhibition event in Saudi Arabia, with Sinner winning again.

Jannik Sinner’s Laureus World Sportsman Of The Year nomination withdrawn

World No.1 Jannik Sinner lost his chance to be considered for the 2025 World Sportsman of the Year Award. The Laureus World Sports Academy canceled his nomination after he accepted a three-month doping ban. Sinner tested positive for clostebol, an anabolic substance. His ban is from February 9 to May 4, 2025.

Jannik Sinner (9)
Jannik Sinner (Image via ATP/X)

Laureus Academy Chairman, Sean Fitzpatrick, said the suspension made Sinner ineligible for the award. Sinner and his team were informed of the decision. The doping case had some special circumstances, but the rules were clear.

Sinner had an amazing 2024 season. He won his first two Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open and the US Open. He also defended his Australian Open title in January 2025. The doping issue was linked to accidental contamination by a team member’s use of clostebol. Sinner settled the matter with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

The removal of Sinner’s nomination shows how serious sports organizations are about anti-doping rules. It highlights the need for fairness in sports. The Laureus World Sports Awards will be held in Madrid on April 21, 2025. The final list of nominees will be announced on March 3.