Coach
Darren Cahill commented that the future of tennis is in good hands with Jannik
Sinner and
Carlos Alcaraz after the Italian claimed his third title of the year
at the Miami Open Masters 1000, defeating Grigor Dimitrov.
The
Australian coach highlighted the significant rivalry that his protege Sinner
will have with the Spanish Alcaraz and ensured that a bright future awaits
tennis. Both emerged as champions in the last leg of the Tour during the
Sunshine Double, with Alcaraz repeating the title in Indian Wells and Sinner
securing the Miami title for the first time after three lost finals:
"He's
getting to play a sport that he loves and do it at the highest order -- and
he's loving every piece of his life at the moment. So he appreciates every
single moment that is happening to him,"
"But
he has also got his feet on the ground, knowing it's just a sport. It's just a
tennis match. And beyond this, whilst he's professional in everything he does,
he enjoys his life. He's a normal 22-year-old kid.
"So
there's a lot to learn from him, a lot of good to learn from both him and
Carlos. I think they're very similar in many meaningful ways and that's why I
think tennis is in great hands at the moment with the likes of those two and
many other players coming through that are going to carry the torch through a
generation that we've been so fortunate to sit through the last 20 years.
"It is
important to have these types of sports people coming through," Cahill
added.
The
Australian, who previously coached world No. 1s Lleyton Hewitt and Andre
Agassi, added that it's not good to compare their rivalry with that of Roger
Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic, as each era and athlete is
different: "What they were able to achieve for so many years is
remarkable, and I don't think we'll ever see that domination again, no matter
what," said the Australian.
"It
has been remarkable how they've pushed the frontier of the game and made
everyone more professional and made everybody play better. What you're seeing
with the players coming through now is a direct result of their
professionalism, of the teams they put together, the way they've tried to inch
out every piece of improvement in each of their games."