LONDON (AP) — Jannik Sinner's Wimbledon title might mean he'll be able to keep Darren Cahill around as one of his coaches beyond this season — by winning the friendly wager they made before Sunday's final at the All England Club.
Back in January, while Sinner was on his way to winning the Australian Open, it came out that Cahill would be leaving his role as one of the No. 1-ranked player's two coaches at the end of the 2025.
After Sinner beat Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 for the championship at Wimbledon on Sunday, Cahill was asked whether he would reconsider the decision to depart the team.
“I don’t want to answer this,” Cahill responded. “You know what? You just need to ask Jannik that.”
So an Italian reporter followed those instructions and did put the topic to Sinner, who smiled and paused.
“It depends,” Sinner began, “Whether I want to tell the truth or not.”
And then he proceeded to explain the whole situation in Italian, revealing that maybe Cahill's exit is not set in stone, after all.
That's because the two of them had a conversation on Saturday night.
“We had a bet before the final. He said: ‘If you win tomorrow, you can decide whether or not I stay,’” Sinner recounted. “Now the choice is mine. I’ve always looked for a person who is honest, a person who gives me a lot, not necessarily only on the tennis court, but (about) how to live.”
Sinner went on to say that he would love to have Cahill stick around. Sinner also did acknowledge that if Cahill did continue to work alongside co-coach Simone Vagnozzi, Cahill probably would not travel on tour as much as he does currently.
“The season is long. There are a lot of tournaments. You never know,” Sinner said. “But let’s just say I won the bet, and so we’ll see what happens.”
FILE - Jannik Sinner of Italy celebrates with coach Darren Cahill, right, after defeating Alexander Zverev of Germany in the men's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake, File)
Italy's Jannik Sinner celebrates with the trophy after beating Carlos Alcaraz of Spain to win the men's singles final at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Sunday, July 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.
The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.
The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.
The U.S.-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Islamic State group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria's national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.
The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”
The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.
Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.
The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.
On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.
Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.
“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”
Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.
Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.
“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.
Associated Press journalist Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.
Sandbag barriers used as fighting positions by Kurdish fighters, left inside a destroyed mosque in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Burned vehicles at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
People flee the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
A Syrian military police convoy enters the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Burned vehicles and ammunitions left at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
