Cahill: Sinner responded to Roland-Garros by working ‘his ass off’ and paying closer attention to heat management
Darren Cahill detailed the deliberate changes behind Jannik Sinner’s recovery from his shock Roland-Garros exit, from a revamped heat routine to the relentless work ethic that carried him through Wimbledon’s toughest early rounds.
Jannik Sinner, Wimbledon 2026 | © PsNewz
Jannik Sinner’s coaching team made deliberate changes to his heat preparation after his shock second-round exit at Roland-Garros this year, though Darren Cahill declined to detail exactly what went wrong physically, calling it a private matter.
Sinner lost from two sets up against Juan Manuel Cerundolo in Paris, his earliest Grand Slam exit since 2023. “It was just one of those things that we don’t really have answers for,” Cahill said. “His medical records are his medical records, so we won’t speak about any of that, but it’s up to us to make some changes and to do some little things differently.”
One change has been visible on court throughout the fortnight at Wimbledon. “You can probably even see during the matches that he leaves the court now after a couple of sets and goes and changes – walks into the air conditioning and changes his shirt even if he doesn’t have to,” Cahill said.
“It’s just more about getting in a routine on the warmer days to make sure that he’s doing everything possible to play at his top level on those super hot days.”
Look, he’s a redhead that lives in the north of Italy, that grew up in the snow and the Alps.
Cahill was clearer than Sinner himself on the decision to get the player used to the conditions in his training plans. “Look, he’s a redhead that lives in the north of Italy, that grew up in the snow and the Alps. Hot weather is a little bit different for him than it is for most people. The more time he spends in the heat, the better he’s going to be at it. We already saw here. I think it was one of the hottest Wimbledons, right, on record. He managed through that incredibly well.”
“We might even make some changes to the pre-season, chasing the sun a little bit more as well, to get him more acclimatised to playing in these types of conditions.”
Sinner : “really hard”
The response was also one of sheer work rate. Sinner arrived at Wimbledon twelve days before his opening match, skipped any grass-court warm-up event, and needed five sets to get past Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round. “We knew the first couple of matches were going to be really difficult for him to get through,” Cahill said. “And he just puts his head down and goes to work. He had a great attitude throughout this entire tournament.”
Cahill described the pattern as typical of how Sinner handles setbacks generally. “It’s a day later, we get a phone call: alright boys, what are we doing? Let’s get back on the court. What are we working towards? What’s the plan? Where are we going?” he said. “That’s his attitude in tennis, and it’s his attitude in life.”
“I’ve worked really hard since Paris”, Sinner confirmed. Very few days off, honestly, it’s been really tough.”
