The status of Jannik Sinner and Darren Cahill’s future partnership remains contentious.
Since Cahill joined Sinner’s coaching team in 2022, the Italian has won four Grand Slam titles and achieved the status of world number one.
However, Sinner announced at the Australian Open of Cahill’s intention to step down following the 2025 season.
Since then, the status of their future partnership has become murky.
After his Wimbledon triumph in July, Sinner revealed he had made a bet with Cahill before the final – if the Italian won Wimbledon, he would decide whether Cahill would stay at the end of 2025 or not.
Ahead of October’s Vienna Open, Sinner provided an update, telling the ATP: “We haven’t talked yet, to be honest. We said we are going to finish the year, and then we might ask him for a long chat, trying to convince him.
“But in any case, if he stays or not, he has been an amazing person and obviously a coach for me to hold the whole team together in the tough moments.
“He is like a second father to me, so I’m happy to have him here. It’s a huge privilege to work with him. We aim for something very positive [for him to stay], and I will need a lot of hope for that.”
If Cahill does step away, could Boris Becker – who nearly became Sinner’s coach in 2022 – be a contender for the position of Jannik Sinner’s coach?
Boris Becker says he is in another phase of life and ‘Darren won’t quit’
During the interview with Corriere della Sera, the interviewer put to Becker that he was ‘one step away’ from coaching Jannik Sinner in 2022 – a time in which Sinner was being coached by Riccardo Piatti.
“I thought it was a secret… I never talked about it. It’s true,” Becker said.
The German was then asked why the partnership did not come to fruition, to which he replied: “Two months later, I was waiting for the London ruling.
“I told Jannik: I don’t know how it will end, I can’t make the commitment. But I didn’t want to leave him stranded, so I gave him a couple of names: one was Darren Cahill. For me, he’s the best.”
Becker, a three-time Wimbledon champion, was then asked if he would be a contender to coach Sinner, if Darren Cahill stepped away at the end of 2025.
“Darren won’t quit,” Becker said.
“As for me, I was convinced Jannik could become the best. At the time, he needed to improve his serve and footwork, but he was unique; mentally, he was already a prodigy.
“Today, I’m in another phase of life, my family is growing, and I have a new business. I don’t want to be on the road so much, and perhaps the role of coach is starting to feel too limited.”
The six-time Grand Slam champion was asked to predict how Sinner would have fared under his tutelage.
The German, who highlighted Sinner’s biggest strength following his Wimbledon triumph in July, is evidently a big fan of the Italian and his coaching team.
“Four Grand Slams at 24: I don’t think I could have done better than Cahill and Vagnozzi,” Becker acknowledged.
“He wasn’t famous when he was drafted, but few understand the game like Simone.
“Team Sinner’s success speaks for itself. And it’s incredible, considering that Jannik has only been playing seriously since he was 13 or 14.”
Sinner is currently competing in the Paris Masters and will contest the final against Felix Auger-Aliassime on Sunday. If he defeats the Canadian, Sinner will reclaim the world number one spot from Carlos Alcaraz.
Who has Boris Becker coached?
The German has coached two ATP stars following his retirement from playing.
From 2013 to 2016, Becker enjoyed a successful period coaching tennis legend Novak Djokovic. The Serbian star won six Grand Slam titles and 14 Masters 1000 titles while working with Becker.
Becker also coached Holger Rune from 2023 to 2024. The pair worked together for less than four months.
Becker announced the split on X [Twitter], saying: “I would like to inform you that I will step down as the head coach of Holger Rune with immediate effect.
“We started this partnership with the initial goal to reach the ATP Finals end of last year, but moving forward, I realised that in order for this to be successful, I would need to be available for Holger much more than I can.
“Due to professional and private responsibilities, I can’t give Holger what he needs now. I wish him only the very best, and I’m always going to be his number one fan. I truly appreciated this journey together.”
