The latest news surrounding Carlos Moya and Jannik Sinner is odd. On Tuesday, many outlets reported that Moya will be Sinner’s coach in 2026, replacing the retiring Darren Cahill.
At first glance, it seemed an unusual pairing. Moya is a retired Spanish tennis player and former coach of Rafael Nadal. Spanish tennis is a tight group. Former players tend to coach young and current Spanish players. Moya would be breaking that unwritten Spanish rule. To add insult to injury, he would be helping Sinner who is Spain’s top player Carlos Alcaraz’s chief rival.
After digesting the news, tennis fans were thrown for a loop when Moya came out and shot down the rumors in grandiose fashion.
What Carlos Moya Said
To be clear, this proposed coaching change was reported by multiple media outlets including Tennis Channel so no one thought it could be fake news.
Moya says it is. He describes the news as “totally false,” “as fake as can be,” and “fake news as big as a house” to different media outlets.
Carlos Moya did not simply debunk it; he went out of his way to elaborately discredit the news.
Was There Something To It?
It is true that neither Jannik Sinner nor Carlos Moya commented on the news as it broke on Tuesday. Tennis media rarely gets a rumored or planned coaching change this wrong so it makes us wonder if there were discussions between Moya and Sinner about a potential arrangement.
Jannik Sinner will be asked about this next week as the 2025 French Open gets underway. Because the tournament is planning a special ceremony on May 25 to honor Nadal, there is a good chance Carlos Moya will be there also. We hope to find out more about the origins of the story, and if Sinner has made any 2026 coaching decisions yet.
