Jannik Sinner has had a season for the ages in 2024. And yet, he faces a potential 2-year ban because of WADA’s appeal on his two failed doping tests. The two people who have been responsible for that are Umberto Ferrera and Giacomo Naldi. While Sinner fired them both a few months ago, his Italian senior Matteo Berrettini seems to think that it is wise to hire one of them for his career resurgence.
As per a report in Quindici Zero, an Italian news outlet, Berrettini has his eyes set on Ferrera, who was Sinner’s fitness trainer before he hired Djokovic’s ex-trainer, Marco Panichi. Sinner and his coach Darren Cahill had earlier credited Ferrera for making the World No.1 a much physically stronger player than he was two seasons ago. This is due to his enhanced ability to play more powerful shots as well as have greater stamina to play long best-of-5 matches.
Ferrera apparently used a technique to develop Sinner’s muscular strength like Formula 1 drivers normally do. Sinner’s injuries reduced subsequently, and he was able to not just compete but beat the likes of Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, who seemed to be the two dominant players on the ATP Tour after playing the Wimbledon 2023 final.
It looks like Berrettini is willing to bring Ferrera on board from the start of the 2025 season. So their first major assignment is set to be the Australian Open in January. Berrettini has struggled with injuries in the last three years, which made him fall out of the top 10.
It is only in recent times that some good performances from the Wimbledon 2021 finalist have gotten him the World No.35 ranking in men’s singles. Berrettini has shown signs of resurgence, considering the fight he gave Sinner across four sets in their second-round match at Wimbledon 2024.
Reports that Berrettini will be hiring the same fitness coach that Sinner fired earlier this year.
The fitness coach that took a banned performance enhancing substance to the US and gave it to Sinners physio to treat a minor cut, despite knowing the physio was massaging Sinner… https://t.co/oLe2JwJiuR
— Pavvy G (@pavyg) November 12, 2024
Although there has been no official statement yet from either Berrettini or Ferrera, this partnership seems likely to happen since both are Italian. To top it all, Sinner firing Ferrera seemed more like a knee-jerk reaction to the fallout from the controversy. Ferrera hasn’t been convincingly proven guilty for his involvement in the scandal.
So it might take a lot of good, sustained publicity in the near future from Berrettini and his team to justify Ferrera’s potential hiring. It goes without saying that the Italian winning more matches will help his case, too.
Has Berrettini taken the right call? Sinner’s WADA case might answer that
This question will remain until the CAS passes its verdict on the Sinner vs WADA case, which is likely to be in January 2025 itself. In the scenario of Sinner winning it, Ferrera’s slate will be clean even if the reigning US Open champion never hires him again. But if that doesn’t happen, then Ferrera would have to work harder to restore his reputation in the sport and in Italy.
It doesn’t help Ferrera that he has apparently signed an NDA to not talk about the doping case. So mum’s the word from his side, and Berrettini’s offer is something he would take up without the blink of an eye.
A physio’s role is huge in any sport, and more so in tennis. Maybe Berrettini could be given the benefit of the doubt to have a good idea about what Ferrera’s truth is, at least. And the former Italian No.1 needs one badly to become competitive again for making a comeback into the top 10.
It could be interesting times ahead for Berrettini as he could expect a lot of scrutiny for this decision if confirmed. He needs to keep this distraction aside to play well for Italy, the defending champions, in the upcoming Davis Cup 2024 Finals in Malaga.
