- The Italian star, 22, faces Daniil Medvedev in his first grand slam final
- Made the decider with a stunning four-set victory over Novak Djokovic
- Coach Cahill has revealed the hard lesson Sinner learned at Wimbledon
Supercoach Darren Cahill has hailed Jannik Sinner’s heartbreaking loss to world champion Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon 2022 as a turning point in the young Italian’s career.
The world number 4 will play his first Grand Slam final on Sunday evening, taking on third-ranked Russian Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open decider.
The 22-year-old blew away Djokovic in the last four to book his place, ending the 10-time champion’s six-year, 33-match winning streak at Melbourne Park.
Australian mentor Cahill said Sinner’s five-set defeat to the Serbian superstar in the Wimbledon quarter-finals 18 months ago was a harsh lesson for the youngster.
Sinner stunned the tennis world when he defeated Novak Djokovic in four sets to reach his first grand slam final
The Australian coach of 22-year-old Darren Cahill (pictured) has revealed the harsh lesson the Serbian superstar was handed at Wimbledon 2022
The Italian took a two-set lead, with Djokovic beating Nick Kyrgios in the final to lift the trophy for the seventh time.
“The match he played against Novak at Wimbledon taught Jannik a lot about where he needed to improve,” Cahill said.
“When he was two sets up and lost that five-set match against Novak, you can sit down with him and talk about where improvements needed to be made.
“And it’s thanks to him that he absorbed it.
“He comes to the practice court, absorbs the information and enjoys working on things that will make him a better tennis player.”
Cahill, who guided Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi and Simona Halep to world No. 1, joined Sinner’s camp during that grass campaign and takes some of the credit for the player’s subsequent rise up the rankings.
Cahill believes Sinner (pictured during his win over Djokovic) has all the ingredients to become the best player in the world
Together with co-coach Simone Vagnozzi, Cahill has helped improve Sinner’s game smarts, fitness, service and confidence.
Cahill said two wins in a week last November over Djokovic, and steering Italy to their first Davis Cup title since 1976, had boosted the youngster’s confidence.
The South Australian knows what it takes for a player to become world number 1 and says he sees those rare qualities in Sinner.
“Work ethic, goal-orientedness, desire, willingness to learn: the tennis IQ of all those champions is fantastic,” Cahill said of the top players he has worked with.
Sinner (pictured) was in rare form at the Australian Open and has now beaten Djokovic three times in the last three months
‘He has the qualities that many of the great champions in the game have, but you have to start winning for that to come to fruition.
‘He’s taking small steps. Last year he finished the year well. He gained a lot of faith by what he could do.
‘These are important victories because if you play a certain style of tennis and you keep losing, you can’t keep doing the same thing.
‘You have to change and your game has to evolve.
‘That is what Jannik has been trying to do in recent years.
‘That’s a great quality and that’s what he has to continue to do. Never stop evolving and never stop getting better.”