Jannik Sinner claimed back-to-back ATP Finals titles without dropping a set when he defeated Carlos Alcaraz in home territory on Sunday. It capped a successful 2025 for Sinner, who pushed his rival all the way but fell just shy of the season-ending men’s world No. 1 berth. Coach Darren Cahill revealed what he took from Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer to implement into Sinner’s game.
Jannik Sinner’s coach, Darren Cahill, has revealed the influences he took from Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, which he has tried to implement into the Italian’s game.
Sinner rounded off an eventful – but ultimately successful – campaign with a 7-6 (4) 7-5 victory over Carlos Alcaraz to win his second ATP Finals title on Sunday. In doing so, he became the first player to win successive ATP Finals without conceding a set in multiple and consecutive years (Opta).
The Turin crown adds to the Australian Open and Wimbledon titles Sinner won in 2025, while silverware in the Paris Masters, Beijing and Vienna made for his second most successful season to date.
Fellow coach Simone Vagnozzi said he “saw some issues” with Sinner’s game following his US Open final defeat to Alcaraz, notably highlighting his serve, which was a particular strength during his run to lifting the ATP Finals trophy.
Cahill agreed with the need to improve Sinner’s serve – the “most important” shot in tennis – and noted how his coaching was influenced by the ‘Big Three’ of the past era.
“You only have control over one shot in tennis, and that is the serve,” Cahill said, in quotes carried by .
“Jannik and Simone have done an incredible job over the last four or five weeks to reorganise the serve and find that rhythm and fluidity that has allowed them to increase their first serve percentage.
“And it’s not just about the first serve percentage. If we had just wanted to increase the percentage, we would have slowed down his serve.
“Instead, he has increased his speed and is hitting closer to the lines, thus earning more free points. They have done an excellent job. The response depends a little on how well the opponent serves.
“I think what makes both Carlos and Jannik difficult to play against is that they don’t let you breathe. You can struggle for five minutes in a service game because they put so many returns back in play, then they come back to serve and go ‘bang bang bang bang,’ a bit like Federer used to do in his day, serving in 40 seconds and putting you under pressure right away.
“We try to learn from the best: Rafa, Novak, and Roger, and apply what we can to put as much pressure as possible on our opponents.
“That accumulated pressure helps when the score gets tight. So yes, first serve, first shot, return: these are fundamental aspects.”
Cahill added that despite Sinner pushing Alcaraz every inch in their intense and exclusive battle to be the best men’s player in the world, there is still much to come from the Italian.
“And we believe that, although Jannik already responds very well, there is still room for improvement. This is the most interesting and stimulating aspect of working with a player like Jannik: there are parts of his game that can still improve a lot.