Since Jannik Sinner announced that Darren Cahill would stop coaching him at the end of 2025, there have been mixed messages about whether the venerable Aussie will really step down.
Throughout the season Sinner has made no secret that he would like it if Cahill stayed.
The Aussie has been a part of Sinner’s team since July of 2022, and oversaw the rise of Sinner from a coltish, unproven star on the rise to a four-time major champion who is considered to be on par with world-beating Carlos Alcaraz at the top of the men’s game.
After he won the Wimbledon title in July he told reporters that he had won a bet with Cahill, and will have the power to veto Cahill’s decision to leave.
“We had a bet before the final,” Sinner said after defeating Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final. “He said: ‘If you win tomorrow, you can decide whether or not I stay.’ Now the choice is mine. I’ve always looked for a person who is honest, a person who gives me a lot, not necessarily only on the tennis court, but [about] how to live.”
Not sure if it’s true, but we’ll find out soon enough.
In the meantime Sinner continues to tell the press that he would really like to keep Cahill in the mix.
“We haven’t talked yet, to be honest,” when speaking to ATP Media about the future of the partnership while preparing for this week’s Erste Bank Open in Vienna. “We said we are going to finish the year, and then we might ask him for a long chat, trying to convince him,”
“But in any case, if he stays or not, he has been an amazing person and obviously a coach for me to hold the whole team together in the tough moments. He is like a second father to me, so I’m happy to have him here. It’s a huge privilege to work with him. We aim for something very positive [Cahill remaining with the team], and I will need a lot of hope for that.”
