Sinner and trailblazer Alcaraz tipped to lead youth revolution
“Special” Jannik Sinner is ready to lead tennis' youth revolution alongside Carlos Alcaraz, according to his coach Darren Cahill.
Sinner's comeback victory against Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open final gave him a first grand slam title and appears a sign of things to come.
The 22-year-old has followed in the wake of Carlos Alcaraz, who is two years younger, and between them they have now won three of the last six slams, with Novak Djokovic winning the rest.
The Serbian will be 37 in May and, while writing him off would be extremely premature, there is no doubt the hierarchy is changing. Cahill said: "I think this sport at the moment has a few superstars.
“I think Carlos is very similar to Jannik in both the way they play with the excitement level they bring to the game, and their personalities and their likability.
"Both guys are incredibly alike off the court. They both like each other. They have a friendly rivalry. They both light it up when they play each other. I don't think any of their matches have been boring.
"I think we have some really good personalities in the game at the moment, and it's important they keep winning. It's important they do what Jannik was able to do, and that's to show a side of this young generation that are going to fight until the very end."
He continued: "They really want to make a name for themselves, and Jannik did that. Carlos has done that already a couple of times, the match he played at Wimbledon to beat Novak was just a special performance.
"Our job now is just to make sure we keep him pumped up. It's a long year, and it's important to enjoy the moment, but when we get back onto the tennis court, we will try to keep him in that good mindset and try to keep him winning."
Alcaraz became a slam champion as a teenager in New York before stunning Djokovic in five sets at Wimbledon last summer. Sinner's path has been more gradual and Cahill, who previously worked with the likes of Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi and Simona Halep, has no doubt Alcaraz's success has inspired his man.
"Hell, yeah, absolutely," he said with a smile. "There's no question seeing the young players come through and having success drives each and every one of them. Not just Jannik. They all desire it.
"Carlos has trailblazed for a lot of young players. We're thankful for that. He's a delight to watch. We aspire to be as good as him and hopefully one day be better than him but, at the moment we're chasing Carlos, and we'll continue to do that."
Sinner, who hails from the north of Italy, split from longterm coach Riccardo Piatti in the summer of 2022 and hired renowned Australian Cahill and countryman Simone Vagnozzi.
The combination is certainly working, and Cahill added: "We believe in Jannik, we always have. He's a special young kid. Even the way he hits the ball, it just sounds special.”