Jannik Sinner confirms Darren Cahill exit, appoints Magnus Norman to coaching team
Jannik Sinner announced on social media on Friday that Darren Cahill will leave his coaching team at the end of the 2026 season and that Magnus Norman will join his staff from December. Simone Vagnozzi will remain in the Italian's set-up alongside Norman.
Cahill joined Sinner's team in June 2022 and had initially planned to step away at the end of the 2025 season but agreed to stay for another year. The partnership between Sinner and Cahill produced five Grand Slam titles and helped Sinner reach the world No. 1 ranking. In his message, Sinner paid tribute to Cahill: "Darren has been an incredibly important part of my journey. I want to thank Darren for his belief in me, his honesty and his dedication. He has helped me grow both as a player and as a person, and his guidance will stay with me throughout my career," Sinner said.
Cahill, who has coached four players to the top of the world rankings during his career, described working with Sinner as a special honour and praised the Italian's humility, dedication and trust in his team. Sinner added that while their coaching partnership was ending, their friendship would continue and he thanked Cahill for the five seasons they had spent together, saying he would not forget a single day of their time working together.
The coaching change arrives after a season in which Sinner has been affected by a knee injury; he has not played since beating Alexander Zverev in the Wimbledon final in July and has already announced he will not compete in the remaining ATP tournaments this year. Alexander Zverev is set to finish 2026 as the year-end world No. 1.
Norman brings experience as a former player: the 50-year-old Swede reached a career-high ranking of world No. 2 in 2000 and was a French Open finalist that year, losing to Gustavo Kuerten. His playing résumé is followed by an established coaching record.
Norman began working with Stan Wawrinka in 2013 and helped him win three Grand Slam titles in as many consecutive years. Wawrinka claimed his maiden major at the 2014 Australian Open, defeating Rafael Nadal in the final, and followed that with victories over Novak Djokovic in the 2015 French Open final and the 2016 US Open final; under Norman, Wawrinka also climbed to a career-high world No. 3.
Norman also coached Robin Soderling, guiding him to consecutive French Open finals in 2009 and 2010, and Soderling became the first player to beat Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros in 2009. Norman has worked with former Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson and co-founded the Good to Great Tennis Academy in Sweden with Mikael Tillstrom and Nicklas Kulti.
The appointment hands Sinner a coach with an established record of guiding players to Grand Slam success, and Norman's task will be to build on the foundations laid by Cahill and Vagnozzi as the Italian looks to remain at the summit of men's tennis; Norman will join the team from December and Cahill will leave at the end of the 2026 season.