COLUMN: Jannik Sinner's decision for Davis Cup week off ill-timed and one to regret

Four-time Grand Slam champion Jannik Sinner's decision to withdraw from Italy's bid for a third consecutive Davis Cup title has created significant derision in his homeland. The criticism has come from various sections about his perceived betrayal.

Sinner has spearheaded Italy's triumphs of the last two years. Victory in 2023 proved a useful springboard heading into the 2024 season where he swiftly captured his first Grand Slam at the Australian Open. The possibility of an Italian dynasty in the long-running team competition, a real possibility given their strength in depth as a tennis nation, has been hampered by the absence of their talisman.

The principal reason for his absence is to have extra preparation time for the Australian Open in January. He gave a short explanation ahead of Italian Davis Cup Captain's Filippo Volandri’s squad announcement: I’m a two-time Davis Cup winner,” said the four-time Grand Slam champion.

“My team and I made this decision because the season is very long at the end of the year and I need an extra week of rest to start my preparation earlier. The goal is to get off to a good start in Australia.

“In the last two years, I haven’t reached my best level because I lacked time, that’s why we made this decision. "We'll see.”

This reasoning seems a little questionable when you consider he's won the last two Australian Opens following triumphs at Davis Cup to end the previous two seasons. The gap then between the Davis Cup and the season's opening major didn't seem to affect Sinner's ability to reign supreme in Melbourne.

His decision to withdraw, announced earlier this week, has drawn strong criticism from various quarters. Italian Davis Cup legend Nicola Pietrangeli, who holds a number of the records in the competition, including most rubbers played, was stating in denouncing Sinner's call: "It's a huge slap in the face for Italian sport," Pietrangeli said to ASNA. “I don’t understand when he talks about difficult choices. He has to play tennis, not wage war.”

There's no doubt the competition doesn't hold the same lustre and instigate the levels of commitment frequently displayed in Pietrangeli’s day. The increased money in the sport has definitely contributed to players becoming more selective in their Davis Cup appearances. In the 21st century, Lleyton Hewitt has been one of the few leading players to make himself available on a constant basis. The game's biggest stars rarely play for a run of successive campaigns.

Sinner's decision is hardly an isolated case of missing the event on certain occasions. Roger Federer barely featured in the competition after Switzerland’s landmark triumph in 2014. This created little scorn back home and hints at Sinner's decision creating greater anger due to a fiercer patriotism being prevalent in Italy than a number of other nations.

The Italians have never previously had a player of Sinner's standing in tennis. He was also given unequivocal support over his failed drugs test when many others were scathing of the leniency and double standards shown to the then world number one. It's understandable they would like to see that gratitude repaid when it comes to representing his country, especially after skipping the Olympics in 2024.

Further criticism originated from Italian sports journalist Bruno Vespa who took a pointed stance on just how Italian Sinner really is:

“Why should an Italian root for Sinner? He speaks German (right, it’s his language), lives in Monte Carlo, doesn’t play for the national team in the Davis Cup to take an extra week of vacation. Kudos to [Carlos] Alcaraz who takes the field for his Spain,” wrote Vespa.

This critique seems a little too personal given Sinner has led his country to their first Davis Cup triumphs in nearly five decades and many tennis players, none of which hail from Monte Carlo, have chosen the tax haven as their primary residence. Carlos Alcaraz has previously skipped Davis Cup duty in the past, although in the qualification process rather than the finals themselves.

The world number two’s response to the criticism was hardly forthcoming when asked about the withdrawal at the Vienna Trophy, where Sinner is playing this week. He refused to elaborate and acknowledged all the criticism he'd received. This lack of depth behind his explanation has further inflamed his critics. His original statement outlining his withdrawal lacked warmth. No good wishes to the team in their hat-trick bid, or a desire to return next season to aid their cause.

Question marks over Davis Cup prestige with Sinner missing

This episode raises question marks over the competition's revamp in recent years. Since 2019, a one off final has been replaced by a World Cup style event where an elite group of nations convene in one location. This format eschews the very popular home and away dynamic of the Davis Cup that produced some of the greatest atmospheres in the sport. The first four editions under this format had taken place in Spain. The forthcoming Finals in November this year are set for Italy, with Bologna taking over hosting duties from Malaga. All the furore over Sinner's absence can only have been amplified with the host nation’s superstar opting this year to skip it. One justification for the changes was it would incentivise top players to improve their participation rate in comparison to the previous World Group Format. The absences seem to appear just as frequently and it's hard to find any tennis figures offering even a caveated endorsement of the Davis Cup in its current guise.

Sinner's decision is made a little more perplexing by the lack of travel involved with Italy hosting the Davis Cup Finals just two days after the ATP Tour Finals have concluded in Turin. It will be interesting to witness if Sinner faces any backlash from the crowd in Turin after the barbed comments he's faced over his Davis Cup snub.

Due to serving a three month suspension in the first half of the 2025 campaign, Sinner is lightly raced compared to a number of his rivals, particularly in comparison with Alcaraz. Sinner has to date played 51 matches this year. In contrast, Alcaraz has contested 74 matches; Alex Zverev, who will play for Germany, has featured in 61 matches and Lorenzo Musetti in 57. If he's to pull out this year on the back of a relatively light schedule for a very top player, would it not have been more appropriate to miss a year after a schedule of greater intensity.

Ill-timed decision from Sinner

The optics of this decision are badly timed after Sinner recently flew to Saudi Arabia for the obscenely lucrative Six King's Slam event. When players are complaining about the punishing schedule, public sympathy will be in short supply when players find time to add exhibition tournaments onto their schedule. They're not mentally so demanding but still require a significant physical effort to justify the huge outlay of the promoters.

There was a time in the sport’s history where Davis Cup ranked only behind the Grand Slams in a player's list of priorities. Former British Davis Cup Captain John Lloyd, now a BBC pundit, is of the view that taking up the offer of representing your country was non-negotiable. This opinion chimes with my own take on playing in this historic competition. I'd like to have seen Sinner choose to embrace the opportunity of establishing a great Davis Cup dynasty rather than opt for an extra week off. The criticism has been excessive, as very few exceptions in the modern game commit every year to the Davis Cup, but with Italy hosting the Finals for the first time and Sinner less burnt out than the previous two campaigns, his decision appears very ill timed and one he may regret if Italy are thwarted in trying to make it a hat-trick.

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