"I couldn't make any commitment," Becker reveals he was close to coaching Sinner in 2022

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Adrien Guyot

le 02/11/2025 à 12h01

2 min to read

Becker Cahill Sinner Vagnozzi

Boris Becker revealed in an interview with Corriere Della Sera that he was close to becoming Jannik Sinner's coach three years ago. But he has no regrets, due to the work done by the duo Darren Cahill-Simone Vagnozzi.

In 2022, Jannik Sinner ended his collaboration with Riccardo Piatti. Looking for a new coach, the Italian ultimately hired Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi.

Thanks to their work, Sinner exploded onto the highest level, winning four Grand Slam titles and becoming world number 1 after last year's Roland Garros. Furthermore, if he succeeds this Sunday against Félix Auger-Aliassime in the final of the Paris Masters 1000, he will reclaim the ATP ranking throne.

A tennis legend, Becker stated in an interview in recent hours that he was close to succeeding Piatti as the coach of the San Candido native in 2022, but the German was awaiting the verdict of his trial, as he ultimately ended up spending seven months in prison in England that year for fraud.

"I thought it was a secret, I never talked about it. I was waiting for the verdict of my trial in London. I then told Jannik (Sinner) that I didn't know how it would end, that I couldn't make any commitment, but that I didn't want to let him down. I gave him a few names, including that of Darren Cahill.

For me, he was the best. As for me, I was convinced that Jannik could become the strongest. At the time, he needed to improve his serve and footwork, but he was unique, already very strong mentally.

Today, I no longer want to spend so much time on the tour. Perhaps the role of coach is starting to weigh on me. Four Grand Slams at 24 years old: I don't think I could have done better than Vagnozzi and Cahill.

When he was chosen, he wasn't very well known yet, but few people understand the game like Simone (Vagnozzi). The success of Sinner's team speaks for itself. And it's incredible when you think that Jannik has only been playing seriously since he was 13-14 years old," assured Becker in an interview with Corriere Della Sera.