Jannik Sinner has been hailed as the most consistent player on tour since the 2024 season, but has also been criticized for his one-dimensional style, leading some pundits to dub him a ' robotic player '.
His coach, Darren Cahill, has come out to rubbish the claim, stressing that Sinner always adds new things to his game.
One of the reasons Carlos Alcaraz fans love the player is his unpredictable style of play. Alcaraz is known to change tactics in the middle of matches and even in sets. Sometimes, he likes to show his new tennis skillset, which often leads to him losing points to his opponents. But his brilliant style of play is a beauty to behold.
On the other hand, Sinner is known to play like a well-drilled machine. He rarely changes his style of play, takes his opportunities as early as possible, forces his opponents into their baseline, and suffocates his opponents with a barrage of forehand and backhand shots, which helps him to win easily.
That happens constantly in Sinner's game and he doesn't care to change because it's working perfectly. In fact, Sinner's opponents know what to expect before their meeting, but that cannot be said against Alcaraz as there are many things to think about before facing the Spaniard. However, Sinner has yet to lose a match since February.
The Italian star claimed his fifth consecutive ATP Masters 1000 title at the Madrid Open after beating Alexander Zverev in a final that lasted for just 56 minutes. Sinner has dropped just two sets in over two months. In an interview with La Gazzetta via Puntodebreak, Cahill rubbished the claim that Sinner is a robotic kind of player:
Not at all. There's a part of him that loves danger, and that's not very visible on the court, because when he's playing a match, he has this internal computer constantly working, and there's a certain confidence in the way he plays. He calculates the odds of winning the point by choosing a particular shot with less risk, and that's the hallmark of a winning player. In life, however, he's not exactly like that. He likes car racing, speed. He likes adrenaline.
Sinner is aiming to win his 10th ATP 1000 title at the Italian Open. He has never won the tournament in his hometown, and his best run at the event came last year when he reached the final before losing to Alcaraz. Alcaraz is currently injured, and that gives the Spaniard the chance to win the Rome Masters and Roland Garros.
In January 2025, Darren Cahill announced that it would be his final season with Jannik Sinner. However, after Sinner claimed the Wimbledon Championship, the Australian coach had a change of mind and decided to stick with the Italian star it didn't reveal when his partnership with Sinner will come to an end.
Sinner is currently in his best form of the season and has been producing mind-blowing performances on the court, but his partnership with Cahill still remains amongst the things yet to be fully resolved. During the aforementioned interview, Cahill gave his take on whether he will be coaching Sinner after the 2026 season:
We'll see… I didn't think I'd be coaching Jannik in 2026, and yet here I am. For now, there's no bet; my goal is to do the best possible job for Sinner and the team this year.Then we'll talk at the end of the season, like last year, and we'll decide with the greatest serenity. What I can assure you is that Sinner will be my last player as a coach.
Since Cahill joined Sinner's team in 2022, there has been a clear improvement in the 24-year-old's game. However, no one knows how the Italian star will cope without Cahill in his coaching box.
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