The Supercoach on the eve of the challenge with the Serbian: “A month ago I would have signed to be in the final, but I don’t know if his condition is enough to win the tournament. Musetti? Don’t surprise me”
On the eve of the Roland Garros semifinal between Sinner and Djokovic, here are the words of the Australian coach Darren Cahill, who follows the blue since June 2022.
Coach Cahill, what should we expect from the challenge with Djokovic?
“It is exciting because it is a question of challenging one of the big ones if not the biggest ever. If you have asked me to sign a month ago for the Roland Garros final, I would have said: where is it that I have to do it? So for us it is very exciting, and for Jannik it is the same for Jannik”.
But in percentage Jannik in what state of form is it?
“He still lacks small details, such as the advance, the ability to move quickly, the reactivity, the advance. He has to enter the rhythm of the race, recover automatisms, but improves every day. I don’t know if it is already enough to win the tournament, but the main thing and not to look too much at there. Each turn the challenge becomes more tough, and there is none more hard than facing Djokovic in the semifinal. As he played against Zverev, he doesn’t hear his 38 years at all. ”
A match long who can favor? The record at the fifth of Jannik is not fabulous.
“Jannik has won 19 matches in a row in the Slam, and there every match potentially goes to the fifth. Sometimes more than physical effort it is a mental effort, and Jannik is very good at managing it. Furthermore, he plays a very physical type of tennis, and three hours of tennis tennis to the Sinner equivalent to 5 hours for other players. This is precisely our goal: to get to maintain mentally, physically and a game level, a game. As far as possible time.
Do you agree that Sinner and Alcaraz are in another dimension or did the average level rise up?
“The mental component, at these levels, is fundamental. Everyone play well. If you look at the first 20 in the world, each of them is capable of great performance: anyone can win on a certain day. But the players who are strongly strongly manage to overcome the difficulties. That it is a physical discomfort, a small lack of trust, or a problem during the match, they manage to put it aside and win the game. Champions in recent years, he has learned precisely: not every day will be perfect, but you must still find a way to win.
Better to work on the strong points or on the weak points?
“One thing we often talk about, we coaches, is that you have to work on 80% of your strengths and 20% of the weak points. At the beginning it is so, because working on your strong points makes you win and enjoy you. But when you arrive among the top ten in the world, the best are very good at finding your weaknesses. If you have a weak backhand or badly managed transitions, they will take advantage of them. For this we have worked so much on its weaker areas, In important matches. It is like a team sport. Vista “.
What is the thing that surprised her most from the first day with Jannik?
“His personality. I did not know him well before starting to work with him, but he has a great sense of humor. I don’t know if you can see him often, but he is an incredibly fun boy, very humble, like his parents. He takes tennis very seriously, but he also knows how to have fun and enjoy life. He understands that tennis is only a part of his life, which occupies a limited phase, between the adolescence, Even more important things. This is why, in the last 12 months, he managed everything so well: he manages to put things in perspective.
What do you think of Musetti?
“It does not surprise me: if I had asked me five years ago, I would have told you that Lorenzo had a very high potential. And now we are starting to see a more mature, more complete, more realized Lorenzo. He is the player who had been expecting for some time, and he still has a lot of career in front. I expect many other important moments from him. And that Vinca delle Slam.”
What is missing from Sinner, if he is missing something, to be at the Alcaraz level on Earth?
“It is a difficult question: I love both boys. I am enthusiastic about the rivalry that will be among them in the next ten years. Our task, as Jannik’s coaches, is to make it continue to improve. We want that, every time he enters the field, whether he is against Carlos or anyone else, he always has the best chance to win. And this will never change”.
What will happen to her and the team at the end of the year?
“There are no news compared to before.”
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