World No. 1 Jannik Sinner recently hired a new physiotherapist and fitness coach after his doping controversy. Interestingly, both his picks have worked with 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in the past and saw great success with him. While Marco Panichi joined the Italian’s squad as a fitness coach, Ulises Badio will be his new physiotherapist.
In the middle of this recent announcement, a video went viral on social media in which the Serb can be seen screaming at his team members in the box. The box also had Panichi at the time when Novak apparently said, “All of you are fired,” after he was trailing Sinner in the 2024 Australian Open semifinal.
so polite of jannik to employ everyone who lost their jobs because of him ❤️ https://t.co/uuj01vYzxZ
— nic (@NlCSF) September 16, 2024
Novak’s association with his ex-fitness coach ended in May this year, the announcement of which was made by the former on his social media. “Grande Marco, what amazing years of collaboration we’ve had. We reached the summit, won titles, broken records. But most of all, I have enjoyed our most “ordinary” days of training in and out of the gym,” wrote Djokovic while ending his partnership with Panichi.
However, he parted ways with Badio much earlier, in 2022, before the start of the Australian Open that year. This brought an end to their five-and-a-half-year-long partnership.
Sinner’s decision to sack his ex-fitness coach and physiotherapist came after the news of his testing positive for Clostebol broke out. Since many questions were being raised about the Italian’s intentions, he decided to sack his two team members because of who the substance had entered his body.
The action was also taken to put the Italian in a good spot and to project his innocence in the matter. However, his decision to hire Djokovic’s ex-team members can be seen based on the results they brought for the Serb.
Djokovic only rode high on success and broke many records when the two were a member of his team. His fitness at the age of 37 is commendable and has set an example for the entire tennis world. Hence, hiring the coach who played a major role in helping the Serb achieve it, is going to benefit Sinner, especially when he is going through his initial climb to success.
