Jannik Sinner might not have played a competitive tennis match since Wimbledon, but there has been plenty of speculation surrounding the current world No 1 nonetheless.
Sinner confirmed that he was ending his season early due to a knee injury which has kept him out of action since he lifted the Wimbledon title in July.
However, there has been plenty of speculation surrounding Sinner’s coach, with Darren Cahill expected to step down from his role at the end of the 2026 season.
Plenty of names have been touted as Sinner’s next coach, including Juan Carlos Ferrero, who has openly said he would be interested in coaching the star.
However, Adriano Pannatta has speculated another major tennis name to become Sinner’s coach for the 2027 season.
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In a recent interview, as reported by Tennis Temple, Pannatta said Paolo Bertolucci would be the perfect coach to guide Sinner on the ATP Tour.
“We don’t know much about Sinner’s situation, as everything is somewhat shrouded in mystery, but I read that he will probably change coaches. Who would I see replacing Cahill? I would say Paolo Bertolucci, because he understands a great deal about tennis,” said Pannatta.
“In my opinion, he could bring him a lot. I don’t know if it can happen. I’m not inside Cahill’s or Bertolucci’s head, but I think very few former players truly understand tennis. Paolo is one of them, and there are only about five of them.
“Cahill is a bit tired, because being a coach is truly exhausting. You devote yourself almost entirely to the player—it’s practically a calling,” continued Pannatta.
“You give 100% to your player, to his family, to his health and to everything around him. For someone like Cahill, who lives in Australia, the distance makes things even more complicated.”
Bertolucci has plenty of experience working as a tennis coach, although not much of it came as a full-time ATP Tour coach.
The Italian was Italy’s Davis Cup captain for two years between 1998 and 2000, and he also worked at the Italian Tennis Federation in the 1980s and 1990s.
Bertolucci also worked with Italian tennis star Omar Camporese in the 1990s in a period that saw the star reach the top 20 of the ATP Tour rankings.
As well as Ferrero, the likes of Carlos Moya, Toni Nadal, and Andre Agassi are all free agents ahead of Sinner’s potential split with Cahill at the end of the year.
David Ferrer has also confirmed he will not be Spain’s Davis Cup captain past the 2026 season, so he could also be in contention for Sinner.
