Sinner coach learns to live with player health episodes

Jannik Sinner’s achilles heel – actually, his hot-weather fitness – is becoming more and more of a reality for his coaching co-pilots, with Simone Vagnozzi now learning to live with the physical quirks of the world No. 1.

Sinner was going strong at Roland Garros after winning five straight Masters 1000 titles since March, when he suddenly folded in the first of the continuing heat waves striking Paris, going out in a second-round shock to Juan Manuel Cerundolo.

The 24-year-old Italian then skipped all Wimbledon buildups, coming to London and winning the title for a second straight edition.

But Sinner, also coached by Australian guru Darren Cahill – then sprang a fresh surprise by withdrawing from next month’s US Open tuneup in Montreal, preferring to save his body for the open starting in a month.

Vagnozzi told Milan’s Corriere della Siera that is just the way it works for the team guiding the world’s top player.

“There were extreme temperatures in Paris, and he arrived with considerable physical and mental strain,” he said.  

“The minor setbacks he experienced are the result of many small factors coming together – but one mustn’t forget that these are a total of four incidents in the last five years.”

But the problem looks likely to remain a constant for Sinner, who grew up in the temperate summer temperatures of the Alps on the Austrian border and excelled at youth ski racing before choosing tennis

.”The heat, the fatigue, and the tension can all interact. There isn’t just one factor – if there were, the problem would be easier to solve. We have to learn to live with these episodes and work on preventing them,” Vagnozzi said.

But that is not to say that Sinner cannot overcome his apparent weakness.

“Jannik is special in this respect as well. He tells himself: ‘I’m making great sacrifices, I’m giving up my youth for this sport – I simply can’t give up,’ Vagnozzi added.

“Players like that feel stronger than others and want to prove it. That’s precisely what gives them the strength to always react and not give up, even when facing a significant deficit.”

Main photo:-Jannik Sinner celebrates Wimbledon 2026 victory by Roger Parker International Sports Fotos Ltd