Simone Vagnozzi Doesn’t Think Jannik Sinner Would Want to Become Coach After Retirement

Jannik Sinner is gearing up for the French Open, which got underway on May 24th. Sinner, who is on a 29-match winning streak, will be up against Clement Tabur in the first round. The 24-year-old arrived in the French capital after taking home the season’s first five consecutive Masters 1000s, which made him the first man in history to achieve this.

He not only became the second man, after Novak Djokovic, to complete the Career Golden Masters, but is also the second man, after Rafael Nadal, to win the three Masters 1000s on clay in the same season.

Since 2022, everything that he has achieved has been under the guidance of his two coaches, Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi. Recently, Vagnozzi sat for an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, during which he was asked whether Sinner could become a coach after calling time on his career.

I think so, but I don’t know if he’ll want to. Champions of this caliber can be great advisors on pressure, management, and important moments. But I don’t know if, after everything he’s given, he’ll want to spend 35 weeks a year on the road for another player…

Under Cahill and Vagnozzi, the four-time Grand Slam champion has lifted four Majors, become World No.1, and won two back-to-back ATP Finals, among other achievements. Cahill wanted to leave his team after the 2025 season, but decided to coach him this year.

Simone Vagnozzi on Jannik Sinner’s matches on clay

Jannik Sinner was forced to stay on the sidelines for three months due to his doping ban. Once he returned, he played two back-to-back finals on clay, at the Italian Open and at the French Open, losing both to Carlos Alcaraz.

All the big tournaments that he missed last year, he ended up winning this year. First, he became the eighth man to complete the Sunshine Double, and then he clinched the three Big Titles on clay. During that aforementioned interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, Simone Vagnozzi was asked whether Sinner wanted to make up for everything he had to miss last season.

I don’t think that’s the point. Jannik has always gone into every tournament with the idea of ​​giving it his all. His motivation was to win a big tournament on clay, prepare well for the rest of the clay season, and return to number one. But he already has a strong motivation within him without needing external stimuli.

Vagnozzi was then asked whether he thinks his protege has truly become a clay-court player, now that he has four titles on this surface as well as a runner-up finish in last year’s French Open.

That was precisely the goal: to make him a better player on clay. There’s no magic wand. A coach’s job is to have a long-term vision: what kind of player do you want him to be in two or three years? We’ve been working towards that since 2022.

Simone Vagnozzi added

Sinner will be completing the Career Grand Slam as well as the Surface Slam if he wins in Paris. Two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz is not competing because of a wrist injury, and his absence has made Sinner the heavy favorite to win the clay-court Major.

In the first Major of the season, the Australian Open, Sinner failed to complete the hat-trick as he lost to eventual runner-up Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. He then suffered a quarterfinal defeat at the Qatar Open, losing to Jakub Mensik. These are the only times Sinner lost matches this year. In the Masters 1000s, he is on a record-extending 34-match winning streak.

Also read: Alexandra Eala Eyes Rafael Nadal and Iga Swiatek Clay Secrets Ahead of Roland Garros Debut