Riccardo Piatti is one of the best tennis coaches in the world. The Italian has coached and helped top players such as Novak Djokovic, Ivan Ljubicic, Richard Gasquet, Borna Coric and Milos Raonic.
After an interesting 2019, the coach had to choose where to put his attention next year and he that would be on 2 key players: Maria Sharapova and Jannik Sinner.
Maria Sharapova
Currently ranked no.132, Maria didn’t really find her way back to the top after she came back from her controversial ban for doping. The Russian sensation has been battling with all sorts of injuries that have also undermined her confidence. However, after changing various coaching teams, she decided to stick with Piatti to try to have a good 2020.
Jannik Sinner
The Italian is arguably the most interesting Next Gen in the world. Jannik has just turned 18 and he won the Nex Gen Finals in Milan after demolishing Alex De Minaur in straight sets in the final. Jannik has been training with Riccardo for long and they share a special relationship that is blossoming with Sinner’s results.
Talking about his 2020, Riccardo commented: “Next year, I will help both Maria and Sinner. We’ve been working a lot over the last few months and Maria has now healed her injuries. She’s fine and she’s ready to attack again. We focused mainly on the technique to rejoin the puzzle, including through video analysis.”
Sinner in the Ortisei Challenger, ranking, and results in 2019
Ranked no.96, Sinner has a 44-20 win-loss record in 2019. Sinner is currently competing in the Ortisei Challenger where he toppled Lucas Miedler 7-65 7-5 and Roberto Marcora 6-3 6-4.
The Italian will come up against Gaio in the quarter. They have never played each so far on the main tour.
Jannik conquered 3 titles in 2019 in the Bergamo Challenger, in the Lexington Challenger and in Milan. Jannik was the finalist in the Ostrava Challenger.
Maria Sharapova’s ranking and performance in 2019
Ranked no.132, Sharapova played her last match on the 26th of August when she was defeated by Serena Williams 6-1 6-1 in the 1st round in U.S. Open.
