Jannik Sinner‘s former coach, Riccardo Piatti, has stated that he sees similarities between the Italian and Novak Djokovic when he was younger.
Piatti is a very experienced and respected coach. He was also a part-time coach to Djokovic, in addition to doing some work with the 2016 Wimbledon runner-up Milos Raonic.
Sinner, who has been training with Carlos Alcaraz in recent days, collaborated with Piatti for many years. He began to coach the ATP Finals runner-up at the age of 13, when Sinner decided to prioritize tennis over other sports.
Piatti oversaw his younger compatriot’s transformation into a top-10 player, with Sinner also reaching his first two Grand Slam quarterfinals and winning five ATP titles under the guidance of Piatti.
Sinner chose to end his relationship with Piatti in February 2022. He hired Simone Vagnozzi, and then in July 2022, Darren Cahill also joined the Wimbledon semifinalist’s team.
However, there appears to be no bad blood between the pair, and Piatti compared Sinner favourably to Djokovic when he was younger in a recent interview.
“I had the chance to follow Djokovic when he was younger and he and Jannik Sinner have a lot of similar mental characteristics. Knowing Jannik very well, I saw the old Djokovic again.”
This is a fascinating insight. Although Djokovic was not the mental giant in his early 20s that he is now, there were certainly flashes of what was to come. His triumph at the 2008 Australian Open demonstrated that.
Sinner, who beat Djokovic in their last meeting at the Davis Cup, undoubtedly became mentally stronger in 2023, with two wins against Djokovic and three victories against Daniil Medvedev. Piatti appears to see that growing mental maturity as a similar journey to the one Djokovic went on.
It will be interesting to observe whether Sinner can develop that mentality more in 2024. He will need it to win a maiden Grand Slam.
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