“Lot of Similar Mental Characteristics”: Renowned Coach Predicts Novak Djokovic Will Be Succeeded by Jannik Sinner

Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic started to develop a rivalry towards the end of the 2023 season. The Italian faced the Serbian thrice in couple of weeks at the ATP Finals and Davis Cup. Sinner managed to defeat Djokovic twice in two weeks and end the season on a high. Interestingly, they have a lot of similarities than one can think of and one of those is Italian coach Riccardo Piatti, as he had Sinner and Djokovic both as his pupils.

Recently, Piatti featured in an interview on TV Monaco and gave his thoughts on Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic. Piatti has followed Novak Djokovic’s career closely from a young age. The Italian coached Djokovic from 2005 to 2006, when the Serbian was just 18 years old. Piatti also coached Jannik Sinner from 2019 to 2022, guiding the young Italian to the NextGen championship title in 2019.

While discussing about the two players, Piatti had the ultimate compliment reserved for Sinner. The coach believes that Djokovic was destined for success since his younger days due to his strong mentality and that reminds him of Sinner at this stage. The comparison is not surprising considering that Sinner himself has idolised Djokovic since childhood and shares a common passion of skiing as well with him. Piatti was quoted as saying –

“I had the chance to follow Djokovic when he was younger and [he and Jannik Sinner] have a lot of similar mental characteristics. Knowing Jannik very well, I saw the old Djokovic again.”

Riccardo Piatti’s coaching history featuring Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova

Riccardo Piatti has coached some of the biggest stars in tennis history. The Italian super coach started coaching professional players in 1988 and has enjoyed great success. Piatti’s first major coaching success came while working with Ivan Ljubicic.

The Italian took over Ljubicic when he was ranked at number 954 in the world and took him to a career high ranking of number 3. This partnership between the duo lasted till 2012. Piatti even worked with Novak Djokovic from 2005 to 2006.

The Serbian decided to part ways with the Italian because Piatti could not commit to work full-time with him. Later, Piatti started working with Richard Gasquet and then Milos Raonic. The Canadian was ranked number 11 in the world when he started working with the Italian but rose to the World No.3 ranking under his coaching.

Piatti started working with WTA superstar Maria Sharapova in 2019. Although the duo did not enjoy great success, the Italian admitted that working with Sharapova was the best experience of his coaching career. According to the Italian, Sharapova had a different perspective on tennis. Most recently, the Italian coach had worked with Jannik Sinner. Piatti coached Sinner from 2019 to 2022, guiding the young star to the NextGen title in 2019.