Jannik Sinner was successful in his comeback in the Australian Open 2024 final against Daniil Medvedev to win his first-ever Grand Slam. The 22-year-old Italian’s meteoric rise to fame and top-notch quality has been nothing short of remarkable. He beat Novak Djokovic three times in the past year now, including in the semi-finals. For all the above, immense credit must be given to his coach Darren Cahill.
So who is Darren Cahill and how many players has he coached before? Here’s more about his successes in the past.
As a player, Darren Cahill repeatedly reached the second and third rounds of numerous Grand Slams. However, unfortunately for the Australian player, he never crossed the point beyond that. However, as a coach, it has been a different story for Cahill.
Before taking on Sinner under his wings, Cahill has been the professional coach of high-profile tennis stars like Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt, Simona Halep, Andy Murray, Ana Ivanovic, Fernando Verdasco, Daniela Hantuchova, Sorana Cirstea, and Amanda Anisimova. While Cahill has tasted different forms of success with each of them, his win with Sinner might be the sweetest if he does.
Andre Agassi is quite arguably the biggest name on the list to be coached by Darren Cahill. Agassi has had plenty of coaches in his career, four to be precise, before Cahill. The 8-time Grand Slam winner was yet to win his final title and retire from the sport before he met Cahill. Agassi had achieved every adulation in the world of tennis, and then he formed a stunning partnership with his then-new coach to win the Australian Open in 2003.
This was the era that was ushering in new and talented players like Lleyton Hewitt, Roger Federer, and Andy Roddick. Agassi was nearing the fag end of his career. He didn’t meet any of the aforementioned players in the tournament, but it was nevertheless, a spectacular win. He beat Rainer Schuttler of Germany 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 in the final to win.
Cahill also coached fellow Australian Lleyton Hewitt from 1998 – 2001. Hewitt has had a long list of coaches in his career, and besides winning Wimbledon in 2002 with Jason Stoltenberg, he’s barely tasted success with any of them in his Grand Slam career. However, his US Open win with Cahill a year before that stands out for a special reason.
It was the first-ever Grand Slam win of Hewitt, and he only had one coach before Cahill, Peter Smith. Hewitt, a young player in the circuit, didn’t have it easy winning that tournament. Facing players like Andy Roddick, Yevgeniy Kafelnikov, and Pete Sampras was no mean feat. In fact, he faced those three players in that same order from the quarter-finals to the finals.
He beat Sampras in the finals 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, 6-1, and clinched his 2nd and final Grand Slam title. With other competitors like Andre Agassi and Marat Safin also competing, it was a great victory for the Hewitt-Cahill duo.
After striking few successes initially, Cahill had a bit of a lean run. He marked a resounding return after he started coaching Simona Halep in 2016. They worked together for three years and in those three years, Halep ended two years as rank 1. But the even sweeter glory was the 2018 French Open.
Halep beat Angelique Kerber, then World No. 2, in the quarter-finals by 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-2. She defeated Garbine Muguruza in straight sets in the semi-finals by 6-1, 6-4. In the finals, after Halep lost the first set to Sloane Stephens by 6-3, she won the next two sets 6-4, 6-1. Halep’s win at the French Open, marked the third Grand Slam singles win of Cahill as a coach.
How has Jannik Sinner improved under Darren Cahill?
As a teenager, Sinner started coaching under Ricardo Piatti who was a part-time coach of Novak Djokovic. After rising to the ranks, Sinner was coached by Simone Vagnozzi in February 2022. A few months later, Cahill joined his coaching unit. Since Cahill joined, Sinner’s rise has been meteoric to the top.
He reached the quarter-final of the US Open for the first time in 2022, where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz. The match ran for five sets, and Sinner lost by 3-6, 7-6 (7-9), 7-6 (7-0), 5-7, 3-6. However, it marked an upward performance by a 21-year-old Sinner. He won the Davis Cup last year under Cahill and also beat Djokovic from Serbia on the way. Sinner has now beaten Djokovic three times in the past year, and it is for sure that his partnership with Cahill is working out.
The Australian Open 2024 has been Sinner’s best performance under Cahill. So, with the win, Cahill on Sunday, won his 4th Grand Slam as a professional tennis coach, with 4 different players. A rare and remarkable achievement indeed in a competitive world of tennis, where things are so dynamic and unpredictable today.
