Darren Cahill


Darren Cahill is a tennis coach and former professional tennis player from Australia. In addition, Cahill is a tennis analyst for the Grand Slam events on the US sports network ESPN and a coach with the Adidas Player Development Program and at ProTennisCoach.com.

Career

Player

Cahill turned professional in 1984. He won his first tour doubles title in 1985 at the Melbourne Outdoor tournament. In 1987, he won his first top-level singles title at New Haven.
Cahill's best singles performance at a Grand Slam event came at the 1988 US Open, where he knocked out Lawson Duncan, Boris Becker, Marcelo Ingaramo, Martin Laurendeau and Aaron Krickstein on the way to reaching the semifinals, where he lost to eventual champion Mats Wilander.
In 1989, Cahill finished runner-up in men's doubles at the Australian Open partnering fellow Aussie Mark Kratzmann. Also with Kratzmann, Cahill won the ATP Championships in Cincinnati.
Cahill was a member of the Australian team which reached the final of the Davis Cup in 1990. The team lost 3–2 to the United States in the final. Cahill compiled a 6–4 career Davis Cup record.
Cahill won his last tour singles title in 1991 at San Francisco. His last doubles title came in 1994 in Sydney.
In 1989, Cahill's reached his career peak doubles ranking of world no. 10 and his peak singles ranking of no. 22 in 1989. After chronic knee injuries and ten operations, he retired from the professional tour in 1995.

Coach

Since retiring from the tour, Cahill has been a successful tennis coach and guided Lleyton Hewitt to become the youngest player ever ranked world no. 1. After Hewitt, Cahill coached Andre Agassi, who under Cahill became the oldest player ever to be ranked world no. 1 in May 2003. Cahill joined the Adidas Player Development Program after Agassi retired in 2006 and has worked with high-profile players, including Andy Murray, Ana Ivanovic, Fernando Verdasco, Daniela Hantuchová, Sorana Cîrstea, and Simona Halep. In 2017 and 2018, he coached Halep to No.1 on the WTA Tour and the 2018 French Open championship. After a year away, Cahill rejoined with Halep in 2020.
In addition to coaching individual players, Cahill was the Australian Davis Cup coach from 2007 until February 2009. He is also an Adidas talent scout and works with promising junior players worldwide. He is now a member of the Adidas Player Development Program. With Roger Rasheed, Brad Gilbert, and Paul Annacone, Cahill is a coach at ProTennisCoach.com, an open-access, professional coaching website. Cahill is also involved with PlaySight Interactive, a sports technology company behind the SmartCourt. Along with Paul Annacone, he heads up PlaySight's Coaching and Player Development team, helping the company to bring its technology to more tennis coaches and players across the world.

Media

Since 2007, Cahill is a tennis analyst for the global sports network ESPN for three of the four major tennis Grand Slams: the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. He also works for the Australian television network Channel 7 for the Hopman Cup and Australian Open.

Personal life

Cahill is the son of Australian rules football player and coach John Cahill. He has two children, Tahlia and Benjamin. His nickname is Killer. He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.

Career finals

Singles 4 (3–1)

ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1.Aug 1987New Haven, ConnecticutHard Dan Cassidy6–0, 6–3
Win2.Jul 1988Gstaad, SwitzerlandClay Jakob Hlasek6–3, 6–4, 7–6
Loss1.Jul 1990Newport, Rhode IslandGrass Pieter Aldrich6–7, 6–1, 1–6
Win3.Feb 1991San Francisco, CaliforniaCarpet Brad Gilbert6–2, 3–6, 6–4

Doubles: 20 (13–7)

ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1.23 December 1985Melbourne, AustraliaGrass Peter Carter Brett Dickinson
Roberto Saad
7–6, 6–1
Loss1.9 Jun 1986Queen's Club, London, EnglandGrass Mark Kratzmann Kevin Curren
Guy Forget
2–6, 6–7
Loss2.13 September 1987Bordeaux, FranceClay Mark Woodforde Sergio Casal
Emilio Sánchez
3–6, 3–6
Win2.12 October 1987Sydney Indoor, Sydney, AustraliaHard Mark Kratzmann Boris Becker
Robert Seguso
6–3, 6–2
Win3.28 December 1987Adelaide, AustraliaHard Mark Kratzmann Carl Limberger
Mark Woodforde
4–6, 6–2, 7–5
Win4.4 January 1988Sydney Outdoor, Sydney, AustraliaGrass Mark Kratzmann Joey Rive
Bud Schultz
7–6, 6–4
Win5.25 April 1988Hamburg, GermanyGrass Laurie Warder Rick Leach
Jim Pugh
6–4, 6–4
Win6.10 October 1988Sydney Indoor, Sydney, AustraliaHard John Fitzgerald Marty Davis
Brad Drewett
6–3, 6–2
Win7.9 January 1989Sydney Outdoor, Sydney, AustraliaHard Wally Masur Pieter Aldrich
Danie Visser
6–4, 6–3
Loss3.16 January 1989Australian Open, Melbourne, AustraliaHard Mark Kratzmann Rick Leach
Jim Pugh
4–6, 4–6, 4–6
Win8.12 June 1989Queen's Club, London, EnglandGrass Mark Kratzmann Tim Pawsat
Laurie Warder
7–6, 6–3
Win9.2 October 1989Brisbane, AustraliaHard Mark Kratzmann Broderick Dyke
Simon Youl
6–4, 5–7, 6–0
Loss4.9 October 1989Sydney Indoor, Sydney, AustraliaHard Mark Kratzmann Scott Warner
David Pate
3–6, 7–6, 5–7
Win10.26 February 1990Memphis, TennesseeHard Mark Kratzmann Udo Riglewski
Michael Stich
7–5, 6–2
Win11.9 September 1990Newport, Rhode IslandGrass Mark Kratzmann Todd Nelson
Bryan Shelton
7–6, 6–2
Win12.6 October 1990Cincinnati, OhioHard Mark Kratzmann Neil Broad
Gary Muller
7–6, 6–2
Loss5.29 October 1990Paris, FranceCarpet Mark Kratzmann Scott Davis
David Pate
7–5, 3–6, 4–6
Loss6.7 January 1991Sydney Outdoor, Sydney, AustraliaHard Mark Kratzmann Scott Davis
David Pate
6–3, 3–6, 2–6
Win13.10 January 1994Sydney Outdoor, Sydney, AustraliaHard Sandon Stolle Mark Kratzmann
Laurie Warder
6–1, 7–6
Loss7.31 January 1994Dubai, United Arab RepublicHard John Fitzgerald Todd Woodbridge
Mark Woodforde
7–6, 4–6, 2–6

Mixed doubles: 1 (0–1)