If you remove Sinner, Italy would have the same level as France

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There is no need for any connection to the present to sit down and chat for a while with Ricardo Piatti. A legendary coach with an infinite track record: Ivan Ljubicic, Richard Gasquet, Milos Raonic, Maria Sharapova, Renzo Furlan, Novak Djokovic, or Jannik Sinner, among others. Currently working at his academy with the Frenchman Gabriel Debru, the colleagues from Tennis Majors made the effort to travel to the Italian coach's headquarters to discuss a bit about the circuit and bring to the table some player comparisons. Below, we highlight the most interesting topics.

Changes in Teams

"The rules of tennis are not changing, but tennis itself is changing. Technique remains very important, but for example, I remember in 1991 I went to the Australian Open alone with five players; nowadays, it's normal for a player to have more than five people on their team. It's completely different. Tennis is changing in the way you need to develop young players."

Tennis Changes

"The game is faster, of course. I don't know if the change has been so significant in the last thirty years; the big change is that now players compete every month. When I was training with Ljubicic, for instance, I recall having a ten-week preseason, which is now impossible because they keep playing. That's why teams are larger because they need to work throughout the year. The mind suffers a lot with such a schedule; previously, by late October, you would already be on vacation. Personally, I prefer to have more time to train between tournaments, to build something, that's why I prefer working with young players."

Generational Changes

"Alcaraz and Sinner had Nadal and Djokovic as targets. My goal when coaching Jannik, since I also trained Novak in the past, was to find a way to beat him. I studied Novak a lot, worked with him, so my idea has always been to find someone who can defeat someone like him. I never had the chance to train Nadal or Federer; the approach would have been different. Now the goal would be to find a player ten years younger who can beat Alcaraz or Sinner. Comparing Jannik with Novak, I think they have a similar technique and movement, but Jannik's shots are now stronger than Djokovic's. Of course, today Novak is older, but I believe Jannik has an edge in that sense."

Sinner-Djokovic Comparison

"They are very different but also very similar. I think Jannik is now stronger, also because he's younger. Sometimes, I forget how Novak was when he was younger, but it's evident he faced many tough situations having Roger and Rafa in front. However, mentally, they are both very strong, they both have a clear understanding of what they need to do. They grasp what's necessary and execute it immediately."

End of Relationship with Jannik

"Two years before parting ways, I told him that once he became good, I would like to find someone else to assist him, but first, he had to become good (laughs). I think he made a good decision, especially by hiring Darren Cahill and the rest of the team. It's part of life, not a problem; I'm happy with what we achieved during those 8 years. The pressure increased when he joined the circuit, but I always explained to him that no matter the mistakes he made or the matches he lost, what mattered was not repeating the same mistakes. When he started his professional career, I told him that after 150 matches, he would be in the top 10, and with 139, he reached No. 9. Then I said he would need another 100 matches to become a Grand Slam champion, and he did. He always had the potential to accomplish these things."

Status of Italian Tennis

"I'm not surprised by the success of Italian tennis now; the question was why this success hadn't come sooner. It seems now they can finally compete with other European countries, they are very good. We talk a lot about Italy because we have many players, but also because we have Sinner. If you remove Sinner from the equation, then we have the same level as France. Currently, France is only missing a player like Sinner."

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, “Si quitas a Sinner, Italia tendría el mismo nivel que Francia”