Jannik Sinner Exposed by His Coach: “We Have to Be Careful”

Darren Cahill, Jannik Sinner’s coach and mentor, revealed an interesting behind-the-scenes story in Matthew Futterman’s book, “The Cruelest Game: Chasing Greatness in Professional Tennis,” which explores the inner workings of professional tennis.

The Australian coach humorously described his protégé’s behavior during card games: “We have to keep an eye on Jannik. He’s a bit of a sleight-of-hand artist. Every now and then, a card goes missing while we’re playing, so we have to keep an eye on him. Usually, when he smiles, we know something didn’t go quite right—that a card has been swapped out,” he joked.

The author then pressed Cahill, asking if Sinner still needed to improve his ability to hide his emotions: “So does he still need to work on his poker face?” The coach’s reply was immediate and amused: “They’d kick him out of a Vegas casino pretty quickly.”

This isn’t the first time this lighter side of the Italian star has come to light. Sinner himself had admitted in the past that his seemingly impassive demeanor doesn’t fully reflect what he’s feeling inside: “Do I look calm on the outside? Yes, on the outside… on the inside, it’s a complete disaster. There’s a storm raging inside. Sometimes you have to play with a poker face…”.