Italian Davis Cup team captain Filippo Volandri says Jannik Sinner was 100 percent right when he made the statement about the strength of the Italian team.
While competing in Vienna in late October, Sinner announced his withdrawal from the Davis Cup Final 8. In the next couple of days, the four-time Grand Slam champion was receiving heavy criticism and scrutiny from the Italian media and public. When the world No. 2 was asked about it, he suggested that there was no need for the media to make such a big fuss from his absence because Italy still had "an incredible team."
"We have an incredible team even without me, and no ones talking about it. We have to do without the world number 26, who right now is Darderi. We can afford not to call the world number 26 in the Davis Cup because we have Cobolli, Musetti, and so many others: we have an incredible doubles team! We can win even like that, we still have Berrettini, so the chances of winning the Davis Cup are high," Sinner said at the time.
Volandri: Sinner was right
After Sinner, Italy lost another top-10 player when Lorenzo Musetti withdrew from the Davis Cup Final 8. But despite another setback, the Italian team went on to dominantly win the Davis Cup title after Matteo Berrettini and Flavio Cobolli each went 3-3 in their singles matches in Bologna.
Jannik was right. We remain a strong team. It is a different victory from the others, perhaps the most heartfelt, along with the first one; different but equally emotional," Volandri told Gazzetta.
In 2023, Sinner led Italy to their first Davis Cup title since 1976. The following year, the former world No. 1 repeated with Italy as the Davis Cup champion.
Sinner will probably return to Davis Cup action in 2026 and Italy will certainly be among the top favorites for the title once again.
