Sinner coach Simone Vagnozzi (center) celebrated Ascoli's promotion at the stadium. © guido_castelli

Ascoli instead of Paris: Sinner coach in a different role

Ascoli Calcio returned to Serie B on Sunday evening after a two-year absence. The club from the city of 45.000 inhabitants in the Marche region had a prominent fan in the stands.

June 08, 2026

From: dl

Simone Vagnozzi is originally from Castorano, which is just under half an hour's drive from Ascoli Piceno. The coach of Jannik Sinner is a passionate Ascoli fan, as he demonstrated on Sunday. Vagnozzi watched the match on Sunday. Serie C playoff final second leg against Brescia (3:0) from the stands, even though the French Open tennis final between Alexander Zverev and Flavio Cobolli was taking place in Paris at the same time.

Sinner's coach used the time before resuming training with the world's number one tennis player on Wednesday to celebrate Ascoli's promotion in front of a sold-out crowd. Vagnozzi's favorite club will also face FC Südtirol in Serie B next season. It's quite possible that there could be some friction with Sinner surrounding the direct clash between the two teams.

Simone Vagnozzi (in the back) has been working with Sinner for more than four years. © APA/afp / PATRICK HAMILTON

Vagnozzi has been Sinner's coach since February 2022. The 43-year-old took over after the end of Sinner's almost eight-year collaboration with Riccardo Piatti. Since July 2022, Vagnozzi has been working together with the Australian star coach Darren Cahill. The former tennis pro reached number 161 in the world rankings as a player and is a good friend of Andreas Seppi.