After the events related to the positivity to Clostebol and the subsequent investigation for doping, Jannik Sinner has decided not to continue the collaboration with the athletic trainer Umberto Ferrara and the physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi, responsible for the contamination - albeit involuntary - of the Italian champion.
ADVERTISEMENT
The new member of the team who would take Ferrara's place is a top-player in the role: Marco Panichi, who for six years was part of Novak Djokovic's team. The Italian athletic trainer has collaborated with the Serbian on two occasions: from April 2017 to April 2018 and from mid-2019 to early 2024. With the Serbian, Panichi has shared many joys and successes, including 8 Slam titles.
Graduate in Sports Coaching and Sports Psychology from NSU University of Florida, Panichi is a professional coach and physiotherapist, two-time Italian long jump champion. The 57-year-old has worked as a consultant and associate for many International Sports Academies and with the national tennis federations of Italy, Germany, China, Israel and Hong Kong. Among the athletes followed before the Serbian champion, there are also Philipp Kohlshreiber, Simone Bolelli, Fabio Fognini, Angelique Kerber, Li Na and Daniela Hantuchova.
ADVERTISEMENT
A few weeks ago he announced a collaboration with the young Chinese Juncheng Shang. While waiting for the official announcement, Panichi could be an important addition to the ATP No.1 team, as he would bring an unparalleled dose of experience and winning mentality to add, strong from the years spent with Djokovic and mindful of the incredible triumphs of the Serb.
Returning to Jannik, in the most complicated period of his career - between the outcome of the independent tribunal for the Clostebol positivity case and the controversies on social media that covered him before and during the US Open, the Italian achieved two triumphs never achieved by an Italian in the men's singles.
The Italian was able to isolate himself from everything, focus exclusively on himself and on the work to be done at that moment and was rewarded with the title at the Cincinnati Open - in less than excellent physical conditions - and the triumph at the US Open.
ADVERTISEMENT
Winning Cincinnati and the US Open is not a feat accomplished by many players in history. Only seven tennis players, before the 23-year-old Italian, have achieved these two consecutive successes on American hard courts.
The first to succeed was the American John McEnroe in 1981, seven years after the Swede Mats Wilander. In 1998 Patrick Rafter then the American Andy Roddick (2003). The last ones, before Jannik Sinner this season, were of course the Big Three: Roger Federer in 2005 and 2007, Rafael Nadal in 2013 and Novak Djokovic (2018 and 2023).
"I can't wait to get back to training and working. There are still things I need to improve on," said Jannik after winning at Flushing Meadows: a summary of the Italian's winning mentality.
