Cahill, Vagnozzi crack the serving secret behind Sinner Nitto ATP Finals victory | ATP Tour

match response

Cahill, Vagnozzi reveal Sinner’s serving secrets behind Nitto ATP Finals victory

Turin champions coach reacts to Sunday’s win against Alcaraz

November 17, 2025

Even with a strong 2025 ATP Tour season, Jannik Sinner and his team know that improvements are always possible.

The Italian crowned his season in style in Turin on Sunday night, defeating arch-rival Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets to retain his Nitto ATP Finals title. A key feature of Sinner’s victory in the famous season final was his serve, and his coaches Darren Cahill and Simon Vagnozzi later reflected on their recent work in this area against the world number two.

“We did see some problems after the U.S. Open, especially with the serve,” Vagnozzi said at the Inalpi Arena after Sinner’s 7-6(4), 7-5 victory. “We changed our moves. We changed our rhythm. From Shanghai to here, he was serving really well. He struggled a little bit in the second set today.

“I think Carlos changed his position on the second serve and also changed Yannick’s serve. In the second set he started serving too slowly. It also changed the rhythm of the first set. In terms of serving, we changed a lot of things after the US Open. We were lucky to have Yannick who improved very quickly and understood the changes and everything.”

Before the changes mentioned by Vanozzi, Sinner had reached the title matches of all four majors in 2025, lifting trophies at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, making it somewhat surprising that his coach even felt the need to adjust. But Cahill stressed the need to work on what he called the “most important” shot in tennis.

“In tennis, there’s one shot you can control, and that’s the serve,” the Australian said. “Yannick and Simone have done some incredible work over the last four or five weeks to recalibrate his serve and find a rhythm and a rhythm that allows him to improve his first-server percentage.

“It’s not just a matter of first-serve percentage. If we were really concerned about first-serve percentage, we would slow him down on his serve and give him more first-serve opportunities. He’s actually improving his miles per hour, and he’s getting the ball closer to the baseline, which means he’s getting more free points. They’ve done a really good job of that.”

It’s time for a team photo with the special guests🐶😅 @janniksin | #NittoATP Finals pic.twitter.com/NAoSRQ5xFA

— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 16, 2025

The results since then have undoubtedly proven Cahill’s theory. After finally defeating Alcaraz in New York, Sinner lifted the ATP 500 title in Beijing and Vienna, the ATP Masters 1000 crown in Paris, and the Nitto ATP Finals trophy. The 24-year-old ended his season with a 58-6 record, according to the Infosys ATP Win-Loss Index.

Sinner defeated Alcaraz in Turin, saving a set point in the first set and coming back from 1-3 to seal the second set, reducing his Lexus ATP head-to-head deficit over the Spaniard to 6-10. Vagnozzi was delighted with the way his side kept their composure in front of thousands of home fans.

“It was a very exciting game. A very tight game,” the coach said. “I think they both have their moments when they play very well, but sometimes they make some mistakes. We saw that Jannik always fights with a good attitude, a good face. He always believed that even when he was broken in the second set, he couldn’t change the direction of the set.

“We are very happy with Jannik’s performance. I think there is still a lot of work to do after this win and this game showed that we can strive to do better. But I am really happy that we have ended the season with an incredible three games in a row. We are excited for the start of next season.”