Jannik Sinner has disclosed that his support team avoids wearing white caps during matches due to a poor win rate when they do so. The world No.1's entourage consistently dresses in matching colours throughout his matches, including his Wimbledon quarter-final victory over Jan-Lennard Struff. Sinner, 24, triumphed in straight sets 7-5, 76 (4), 6-3 to secure a place in his tenth Grand Slam semi-final, where he will face either Felix Auger-Aliassime or Novak Djokovic.
Superstition Behind the Ban
It marks his second semi-final appearance of the year following an early second-round departure at the French Open, and the Italian has now shed light on his coaching team's particular sartorial preferences. When quizzed about his team's coordinated appearance afterwards, Sinner responded with a smile: "You need to ask my team, not me." Pressed further on whether he dictated their appearance, he clarified: "No, I'm not in charge. The only colour I don't like is white hats for a certain reason. We have a not good win percentage when they have a white cap, so... But the rest they choose."
Coach's Rule on White Caps
He subsequently elaborated during an interview with Clare Balding on the BBC, revealing that the stipulation originates from his coach, Simone Vagnozzi. When the presenter enquired about the team's colour coordination, Sinner reiterated that "you need to ask my coach." The Italian explained: "I need to think already about so many things, if I also need to think about what they have to wear... trust me, the day is long. But we have one rule, we said- actually Simone told me: 'no more white caps', because they are unlucky, apparently."
Quarter-Final Victory and Reflections
Although the Italian dispatched Struff in straight sets, it was anything but plain sailing on Court No. 1. Reflecting on the match afterwards, Sinner acknowledged his opponent was "first of all a very, very tough player to play against. He deserves everything he has done and achieved in his career-a great person off the court. In the beginning, I felt like he started better than me; I was struggling a bit. I tried to get into the match, I was serving a bit better, tried to stay there mentally, and of course, very happy to be back in the semi-finals here."
Heat and Physical Preparation
With the sun blazing down on Court No. 1, hats were very much a necessity, prompting questions for Sinner about his heat-affected exit at Roland Garros. When quizzed about Paris, he responded with a smile: "Thanks for reminding. We worked a lot, especially after Paris, trying to understand what went wrong there. It was a huge test today. I felt really comfortable on the physical side today, so a big step forward."
