Jannik Sinner was beaten in the French Open final by Carlos Alcaraz and his coach Darren Cahill has admitted how the Italian reacted to the defeat
Jannik Sinner’s coach, Darren Cahill, has shared how the tennis star dealt with a gut-wrenching defeat at the French Open final. After a nail-biting five-setter in which Sinner surrendered a two-set lead and three championship points to Carlos Alcaraz, the Italian reacted by breaking his diet.
Sinner had won back-to-back majors at the US Open and Australian Open ahead of last month’s French Open final. Having come agonisinly close to clinching a third consecutive Grand Slam, there were fears that the Paris defeat to two-time Wimbledon champion Alcaraz could impact Sinner’s fortunes at the Grand Slam.
Sinner swept those concerns aside as he kicked off with a win against fellow Italian Luca Nardi at SW19 on Tuesday. However, Cahill did admit that Sinner dealt with his French Open heartache by breaking his diet after being seen exiting Roland Garros with a jar of sweets in hand.
In an interview with ESPN, as reported by Tennis Tonic, Cahill said: “I must say, about half an hour afterwards, he went and did the press,” he began. “We were walking to transport. We had this big bus where we all sit in and for the players they have this candy jar that you can take a couple of candies [from] as you walk out of Roland Garros. He took the whole jar!
“He grabbed the glass jar, had the candies, he’d been on a strict diet for two weeks and that was it. The diet was out the window.
“In the car, he was handing candies out to everyone,” said Cahill. “He was laughing, he was giggling. He moved on pretty quickly and it’ll be interesting to see how he moves on here because this will be the big test.”
Following the painful defeat in Paris, Cahill is optimistic that the world No. 1 has arrived at Wimbledon in top form. Having previously reached the semi-finals, Cahill believes that Sinner is still improving his grass court game.
“He’s had his best week of practice on grass that he’s ever had. He’s rejuvenated, he’s fresh, mentally he looks good,” Cahill continued. “The first couple of matches will be interesting.
“He has to get his teeth into the tournament, but if he can get through the first couple of matches, he’ll be completely fine. ”.
While other players may have struggled to come to terms with Sinner’s defeat in the French Open, his coach explained why the 23-year-old was quickly able to focus on the next challenge. “He knows he’s got 10 or 12 years at the top of the game if he continues to work the way he’s working,” Cahill said.
“He knows he’s going to have a lot more chances against Carlos Alcaraz in finals. They’ll play a lot of big matches and he’ll get his wins.
“The fact also that, had he won that tournament, we’d be competing here for the Sinner slam. He would have had three in a row. So he knows he’s around the mark, he’s improving all the time on grass.”
Having spoken ahead of the Italian’s opening match, Sinner lived up to his coach’s expectations, smoothly sailing into the second round and setting up a clash with Aleksandar Vukic. After dispatching Nardi and moving forward in the tournament, the young star displayed his positive mindset.
“It’s a new tournament with new chances and new challenges. I will try to keep going and enjoy playing here,” Sinner said in a press conference. “If you don’t enjoy playing on these courts, I don’t know where you will enjoy. I’m very happy to be here, so let’s see what is coming.”