Jannik Sinner involved in surprising Davis Cup drama that needs an explanation
Just four days after he claimed his first ATP Finals title in Turin, Sinner was back on a faster indoor court in Malaga trying to lead his nation to Davis Cup glory for a second successive year.
Yet this tale took an early twist against the defending champions as Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo defeated Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti in straight sets to have the South Americans a lead in the tie.
Sinner then sealed a convincing 6-2, 6-1 win over Sebastian Baez, but it was what came next that was something of a surprise.
Andrea Vavassori and Simone Bolelli were expected to play the doubles tie for Italy, with the ranking of the two players suggesting they could be the best pick to take on the experienced Argentine doubles duo of Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni.
Vavassori is ranked at No 9 in the ATP Doubles Rankings and Bolelli is just two places behind him in that list, yet Italy captain Filippo Volandri rolled the dice and went with his world No 1 singles player Sinner alongside 2022 Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini.
USA captain Bob Bryan made a similar decision earlier in the day as he picked singles players Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul to play the crucial match of their tie against Australia.
That move backfired as they were beaten by established doubles duo Jordan Thompson and Max Purcell and the Australian’s booked their place in the last four.
Volandri was more successful as he made a similar move to drop his doubles players as Sinner and Berrettini earned a key break in the 11th game of the second set before sealing victory on their first match point to seal a 6-4, 7-5 victory.
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“For me, it’s always a tough decision,” said Volandri, as he explained his decision.
“I have eight or nine players that I could choose, then I have four or five that I can put in the team and then I choose who plays singles and who plays doubles.
“They made an unbelievable doubles, especially Matteo. We have an unbelievable team.”
Sinner admitted he struggled with the conditions in Malaga, with the surface the Davis Cup Final 8 is being played on very different to the one he excelled on in his Italian homeland as he won the ATP Finals in Turin.
“The court is very fast and tough to play,” said Sinner.
“I haven’t had so much time to adapt to these conditions, but the most important thing was to keep Italy alive.”
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He then went on to praise Berrettini as he added: “He played unbelievable today. You know he carried me today, so I am very happy about his performance.
“I think we have some very good choices to put on the court.
“Today was this choice because I played the first match, and it was not that long, so I felt physically ready. He played unbelievable, Matteo. He carried me.
“This means so much to us and I’m happy to play doubles with him.”
Italy will now face a re-match against Australia, the team they beat in the decisive match of last year’s Davis Cup Final 8 and with Sinner’s dominant form showing no sign of waning in the final week of a draining season, the defending champions have to be favourites to retain their title.
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