Australian super coach Darren Cahill may end up doing a U-turn and continue to mentor new Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner after losing a bet with his brilliant young Italian charge.
It’s now possible that the 23-year-old’s breakthrough triumph in the grass-court slam could lead to the pair still being in harness when Sinner defends his Australian Open title in Melbourne in January.
Cahill had already announced he was planning to quit as co-coach to the world No.1 at the end of this year – but Sinner has made it clear all season that he’d love the 59-year-old to remain a key part of his team alongside Italian Simone Vagnozzi.
To that end, Sinner had a wager with his Adelaide mentor on the eve of his Wimbledon final victory over Carlos Alcaraz.
“Darren told me, ‘if you win tomorrow, you can decide whether or not I stay on as coach’. So now the choice is mine!,” Sinner revealed.
“Let’s just say I won the bet, and so we’ll see what happens.”
Cahill has explained that after a long coaching career, family considerations and the demands of global travel lie behind his decision to call it a day after guiding not just Sinner but also Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi and Simona Halep to No.1 in the world.
The in-demand coach isn’t planning to link up with any other player, and Sinner acknowledged that if Cahill did stay on, he probably wouldn’t be able to spend as much time with him and Vagnozzi at tournaments around the world.
But the Italian added: “The season is long. There are a lot of tournaments. You never know…”
It seems like Sinner’s team are still working on Cahill changing his mind.
“If you ask me, I hope Darren stays next year and that we can still have continuity. I’m trying to convince him, let’s see,” Vagnozzi had said in May.
“He and I have found a balance, and we have integrated well. There are departments where maybe I do more, and departments where he does more. But we have integrated well, we hope to convince him.”
Content Source: www.perthnow.com.au