Jannik Sinner had to overcome challenges on the court to win the 2024 US Open, but he also faced challenges off the court, with his coach sharing how that side was handled.
Heading into the US Open, Sinner didn’t only have to make sure his tennis was on point; he had to ensure his mind was as well, because there were plenty of distractions. While he had known about his doping saga for months, which allowed him to process it, it wasn’t public knowledge until just before the US Open.
Once it became public, there was a media frenzy. Lots of things were written and said about him, which wasn’t easy for him to see and handle, something he admitted as well. Keeping his focus on the prize, the US Open trophy, was difficult, but he was able to do it and win.
Match after match, Sinner remained focused and won all of them comfortably, including the final against Taylor Fritz, which wasn’t as troublesome as some might have expected.
His coach, Darren Cahill, spoke with the media after the final and explained how the team kept Sinner focused on the goal.
It was Cahill’s job to do so, and he made sure to remind Sinner that he hadn’t done anything wrong and that, whatever happens, he should keep his head high because he was there because of his hard work.
"I'm not the main coach in this team, Simone [Vagnozzi] is the main coach but I'm the most experienced. So the last three or four weeks or the last four months, really a lot of what's been going on within the team has laid on my shoulders to keep a sense of things, to keep his focus on what we're trying to achieve, to make sure I continually tell him he's done nothing wrong."
"So, whatever happens, hold your head up high because you've done absolutely nothing wrong. Just go about our tennis in a professional way and see what we can do in this period and once we get through it, then we'll be able to go from there. And we got through it, it wasn't without stress, lot of stress."
Sinner has been quite forthcoming that this doping saga was very difficult for him. It's something that will now forever be tied to his name, even if he was proven innocent.
He passed the test with flying colors, though. He had a really solid summer during which he became the World No. 1 player on the ATP Tour. After that, he won another Grand Slam trophy in New York.
Those are great achievements, and having had the help of good coaches was important. Cahill took his role seriously, as to him, that's what part of the coaching is—the human side of it.
"That's what I think real coaching is about is because you care and unless your player knows that you’re invested and really care about not just the performance but you as a person. I speak about Jannik’s tennis quite a lot but I speak about him more as a person more than anything."
0 Comments