Simone Vagnozzi has called his working relationship with Jannik Sinner "special" in light of the most accomplished season of the 22-year-old's career.
Sinner enjoyed a seismic rise into the world's Top 5, climbing to a career-high of World No. 4, which is the joint highest by an Italian man in ATP rankings history (equaling the great Adriano Panatta).
The man from San Candido earned 12 Top 10 wins last season, the second-highest behind Novak Djokovic. Sinner captured four titles, including his first ATP Masters 1000 at the Canadian Open during the North American summer.
The crowning moment of Sinner's season was in Malaga where he almost singlehandedly helped his country lift a first Davis Cup title in 47 years. It was a major accomplishment that earned him a hero's welcome back home.
Vagnozzi, who began working with Sinner in early 2022, has lived through a roller coaster of emotions on the stands. Sinner has entrusted him with daily responsibility of affairs since parting ways with Riccardo Piatti.
Vagnozzi is a former pro who primarily featured in doubles. He works in tandem with the experienced Darren Cahill in Sinner's coaching team. The pair recently won the ATP Coach of the Year award. The 40-year-old lauds Sinner's resilience and admits he makes his job "easy."
"Working with Sinner is special, he can still improve a lot. Knowing that every day your student goes onto the court with an important goal makes everything easy. He can still improve a lot. A defect? He is stubborn, but after a match he easily understands where he went wrong as happened in Rome and Paris."
Sinner has been training in Spain during the offseason and is reportedly set to play his rival Carlos Alcaraz in an exhibition in Murcia. The young Italians' first official tournament of 2024 will be at the Kooyong Classic, which begins on January 10.
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