Previous Players Coached:
Lleyton Hewitt (1999-2001) and Andre Agassi (2002-06)
Coaching Career Highlights:
• Began coaching Lleyton Hewitt when he was 12 years old and traveled full-time on tour with him for three years from 1999-2001
• The Aussie duo captured the US Open Crown and Master’s Cup Championship in 2001
• Hewitt lifted the US Open doubles title in 2000 with partner Max Mirnyi and was a Davis Cup Champion under Cahill’s tutelage in 1999
• Started coaching Andre Agassi in February 2002 and finished his coaching stint following the American’s retirement after the US Open in 2006
• Cahill helped spark a late-career renaissance for Agassi, winning the Australian Open in 2003
• Other noteworthy results during their partnership included titles in Madrid (2002), Miami (2002-03), Rome (2002), Cincinnati (2004) and runner-up finishes at the US Open (2002, 2005)
• Cahill coached Hewitt to become the youngest World No.1 in history (20 years, 268 days – a record that still holds to this day) and helped Agassi become the oldest World No.1 in history (33 years old – a record surpassed by Roger Federer in February 2018)
• Served as Australia’s Davis Cup coach from 2007 until February 2009
• Took over the reins of Simona Halep’s coaching camp in 2016, enjoying instant success as the Romanian hoisted the title in Madrid
• In 2017, Simona defended her Madrid title and finished runner-up at Roland Garros prior to becoming the first-ever female from Romania to be ranked World No.1 on the WTA Tour
• In 2018, the duo produced their best season yet as Halep captured her first career Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, in addition to titles at Shenzhen and Montreal
• Helped Halep finish the 2017 and 2018 seasons as the Year-End WTA No.1 player
• The Aussie sat out the 2019 season to focus on spending time with his family, before returning to the WTA Tour in 2020 to lead Halep to a semifinal finish at Australian Open and a title in Dubai
• Cahill has coached every player that he’s worked with in a full-time role to Grand Slam titles and the World No.1 ranking
Playing Experience:
Highest ATP Singles Ranking: 22
Highest ATP Doubles Ranking: 10
Nicknamed “Killer”, Cahill turned professional in 1984. He won his first tour doubles title in 1985 at Melbourne, and his first top-level singles title in 1988 at Gstaad. Cahill’s best performance at a Grand Slam event came at the 1988 US Open, where he knocked out Boris Becker in the second round on the way to reaching the semifinals, where he lost to eventual champion Mats Wilander. In 1989, he finished runner-up in the men’s doubles at the Australian Open (partnering with Mark Kratzmann). Cahill was a member of the Australian team which reached the final of the Davis Cup in 1990, losing 3–2 to the United States. He compiled a 6–4 career Davis Cup record (4–0 in doubles and 2–4 in singles). The Aussie won his last tour singles title in 1991 at San Francisco. His last doubles title came in 1994 at Sydney. Retired from the professional tour in 1994.
Personal:
Darren is married to Victoria (2000) and they have 2 children (Benjamin 17 and Tahlia 14) and reside between Las Vegas, USA and Adelaide, Australia. Cahill is an ambassador for the AFL club Port Adelaide and his father (John) is a member of the AFL Hall of Fame and a former Port Adelaide player/coach holding one of the most successful coaching records in Australia. Cahill is a supporter of the charitable organization "Simona Halep Foundation" aiding and assisting under privileged children in Romania. In addition to his coaching responsibilities, the Aussie doubles up as one of the premier on-camera personalities for ESPN tennis broadcasting and Channel Seven Australia. Along with Roger Rasheed, Brad Gilbert, and Paul Annacone, Cahill is a coach at ProTennisCoach.com, an open-access, professional coaching website. He is also involved with PlaySight Interactive, a sports technology company behind the SmartCourt. 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.