What Umberto Ferrara said about Jannik Sinner after he was fired last year as he now rejoins the team

Just weeks after winning Wimbledon, Sinner has made a controversial move ahead of the US Open series.

It was announced on Wednesday that Sinner had rehired Umberto Ferrara to his coaching team.

Ferrara had been dismissed from the world number one’s team last year, following Sinner’s Clostebol case.

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Fitness coach Ferrara and physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi were partly blamed for the positive test, as the contamination originated from a spray bought by Ferrara that Naldi used to treat a cut on his finger.

After Sinner split with Marco Panichi and Ulises Badio before Wimbledon (Ferrara and Naldi’s replacements), a place opened up for a new fitness coach within his team.

Filling that open space with Ferrara, Sinner has reunited with the man he fired less than 12 months ago.

Only Sinner and Ferrara will know how they will act around one another now, but what did the fitness coach say after he was dismissed in 2024?

Umberto Ferrara praised Jannik Sinner for his ‘extraordinary maturity’ despite being fired

During an interview with La Gazetta dello Sport in April 2025, Ferrara gave his verdict on the world number one.

“Despite his 23 years, he showed extraordinary maturity in dealing with this situation, which I believe is supported by a valid conviction that he is right,” he said.

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“He has a special work ethic and dedication, and this approach leads him to continually raise the bar. Working with Jannik [Sinner] is rewarding and stimulating.”

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Ferrara then shared his thoughts on Sinner’s decision to remove him from the team.

“The last time we met was in Doha, and we said goodbye,” he said.

“I was deeply saddened by the end of our relationship, but I knew it could be one of the possible outcomes.”

Ferrara was complimentary of Sinner after the split, as was the 23-year-old, who shared some kind words with Ferrara and Naldi during his 2024 US Open press conference.

“I want to start with [saying] that they have been a huge part of my career,” said Sinner.

“We did an incredible job, bringing a lot of success and then having a great team behind me.”

Sinner did, however, note that he had lost ‘confidence’ in the pair, which led to their firing.

“Now, because of these mistakes, I’m not feeling that confident to continue with them,” he said.

“I was struggling a lot in the last months. I was waiting for the result, and now I just need some clean air.”

Putting the controversy to the back of his mind, Sinner won his second Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows a year ago, a feat he will no doubt look to repeat in 2025.

Is Jannik Sinner the favorite to win the 2025 US Open?

Sinner will travel to New York as one of the pre-tournament favorites, but despite his win in 2024, he hasn’t always played his best tennis at the US Open.

The US Open is statistically Sinner’s worst-performing Grand Slam event, winning just 77% of his matches at the tournament.

Grand Slam Best performance Most recent performance Win/Loss record Win % Australian Open W – 2024, 2025 W – 2025 22-4 85% French Open F – 2025 F – 2025 22-6 79% Wimbledon W – 2025 W – 2025 20-4 83% US Open W – 2024 W – 2024 17-5 77% Jannik Sinner’s record at Grand Slams

However, it shouldn’t be ignored just how well Sinner has performed on hard courts recently, as the Italian has lost just a handful of matches on the surface since the beginning of the 2024 season.

Jannik Sinner’s hard-court defeats since 2024

Sinner has won 21 consecutive hard-court matches since suffering a defeat to Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the 2024 China Open.

The Spaniard has been the only man to provide a consistent challenge to Sinner over recent years, as the pair have shared the previous seven Grand Slam titles amongst themselves.

Contesting the 2025 French Open and Wimbledon finals, Sinner and Alcaraz took their dominance to another level.

If anyone can challenge Sinner in New York, it will surely be Alcaraz, who last won the US Open in 2022.

It’s tough to judge who is the ‘favorite’ between Alcaraz and Sinner, but one thing is for certain: you won’t want to miss any of the action when the US Open begins.

The 2025 US Open is scheduled to start on Sunday, August 24.

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