Andy Murray pondering coaching return, but could it be with Jannik Sinner? Italian former coach sees legend as future solution
ATPMonday, 06 April 2026 at 16:30
Andy Murray ironically has said this past week that he will ponder a return to the coaching game after his surprise but ill fated in the end stint with a certain Novak Djokovic.
Murray was coached by Djokovic for a time after the latter split with Goran Ivanisevic in a partnership highly touted due to the sum of their parts being so legendary. But while Murray put the brakes on potentially restarting coaching yet and has since been at home with his family or playing golf, others see him as a solution.
But a solution in Riccardo Piatti's case, who used to coach Sinner to the former World No.1, is likely to lose a certain Darren Cahill at some point in the near future. Cahill decided to stay on for another year after stating his intention to retire before, but while that is the case, he, of course, must have had designs to leave the sport if he curtailed it just for now.
“Look, coaching a world number one or two is stressful,” said the 67-year-old to Corriere della Sera. "It means revolving your life around the player’s needs: it’s not a vacation. I think Darren will retire because he wants to do something else, but I honestly don’t know.”
Asked if he thinks someone like Andre Agassi even could coach him, he pointed instead to another icon of the sport who has recent coaching experience.
“Hmm, I don’t think so. I’d see Andy Murray as a good fit: intelligent, experienced, solid.
“In 2021, in Stockholm, he defeated a young Sinner in straight sets. After the match, I went to talk to Andy; I would have signed him right away, but he had decided to keep playing, damn it.”
Murray has said recently that he will want coaching again at some point. The Brit said that he wants a lower level task though ala when Goran Ivanisevic ironically left Djokovic but he of course coached Rybakina, Tsitsipas and now Fils so all quite high profile.
“I think at some stage I probably would (consider a return to coaching),” Murray told The Athletic.
“My priorities are lying elsewhere just now, but I would do it again in the future. I do like the idea of helping a much younger player, a little bit like — not that I would expect it to turn out like this — the (Juan Carlos) Ferrero-(Carlos) Alcaraz relationship. A younger player that you’re really able to help and have a really positive influence on. I would find something like that quite interesting but certainly not right now.”
Andy Murray to coach Sinner?
Punditry for Murray?
Murray also touched upon punditry and what his thoughts are on him doing it when in his view there are more qualified and better names.
“There are some people that are very good at it. Jim Courier and Andy Roddick were great at the game, but also love the game and are very well researched and speak really, really well and are very passionate about it. And do the job extremely well. They’re not just turning up because they’re getting paid and just throwing out random comments, having not really watched the players and not really thinking much about what they’re saying.
“So it can be done extremely well, but I don’t think that’s always the case. And I think tennis needs to sort of improve the way that they do punditry, but it’s not something that right now I’m massively into doing. I wouldn’t rule out doing it in the future, but I don’t really want to do it right now.”
Back to Piatti and he sees that he will be focused on regaining the ATP World No.1 spot and making that top spot his own in the rankings.
“He knows. He knows where to focus, and when to do it. The defeat in Doha had nothing to do with it: it was a transitional moment,” Piatti assessed.
“He was already focused on his swing in the US, where he had only something to gain. On clay, however, the transitional matches are less predictable: the balls and the court change during the match. But Jan knows himself: he knows how to pace himself. This year, he wants to win a major title on clay.”
Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.
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