Riccardo Piatti has acknowledged the tense moments between him and Jannik Sinner but downplayed their significance, describing it as a normal player-coach dynamic. One such incident occurred during the 2022 Australian Open, when Sinner, in the midst of a third-round match against Taro Daniel, angrily told Piatti, “I’m using my head and you (expletive) stay calmer.” The exchange was clearly audible to TV viewers as cameras captured the moment.
Although Sinner won that match and made it to the quarterfinals, he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas, and shortly after, he and Piatti parted ways. Speculation in the Italian media suggested that the two had been experiencing tension for some time.
“Everyone remembers the match against Daniel in Melbourne in January 2022 when he said, ‘calm down, damn it.’ He was angry with me over things on the court. This had happened before—it’s a normal dynamic between coach and player. That wasn’t the problem,” Piatti explained to Corriere della Sera.
Piatti was unbothered by Sinner’s decision to move on from their partnership. Reflecting on Sinner’s rapid rise in 2019, which included five titles and the NextGen ATP Finals, Piatti admitted that he always expected the split, even though some believed they would stay together longer, potentially until they won a Grand Slam.
“I always wanted Jannik to become independent. I knew he would leave eventually. But with him, I had to be a strict coach, sometimes rigid—it was my role. Ljubicic criticizes me for saying, ‘You decide too, Ivan, but then do as I say.’ For Jannik, this kind of discipline became too much at a certain point,” Piatti added.
Since their separation, Sinner has worked with Darren Cahill and Simona Vagnozzi, and over the last year and a half, he has firmly established himself as one of the best in the game, with three Grand Slam titles and holding the world No. 1 ranking since June.
