After leading Italy to their first Davis Cup since 1976, Jannik Sinner will be back this year to try and lead his country to the trophy once more.
The young Italian had a tremendous finish to the season last year with some incredible performances in the indoor events. He won the Vienna Open, beating Daniil Medvedev in the final, and then followed that up by making a really good run all the way to the ATP Finals, reaching the final, in which Novak Djokovic awaited him.
While the Serbian won the final match, Sinner got his revenge at the Davis Cup Final 8, where they faced each other in the semi-final. Sinner was able to produce a spectacular win over the Serbian, which ended up being crucial for Italy en route to the trophy.
He also bested Djokovic in the doubles in the same tie to ensure Italy's advancement to the final. He then followed that up with a fascinating performance in the final against Australia, lifting Italy to their first Davis Cup since 1976.
Just by doing that, Sinner cemented himself as a legend of Italian tennis and arguably the best Italian player ever, and he's just getting started. While he wasn't able to help his country in the Davis Cup Finals group stage recently due to his efforts at the US Open, the country was able to secure their spot at the Final 8 once more.
Team Captain Filippo Volandri confirmed back then that Sinner offered himself to the team, but the captain told him to rest. Patriotism was never in question for Sinner, and there was very little doubt that the Italian would sign up to play for Italy at the Final 8 competition later this year in Malaga.
He was named as part of the Italian team for the competition alongside Lorenzo Musetti, Flavio Cobolli, Andrea Vavassori, and Simone Bolelli. It's a great team and very similar to the one that was able to win it all last year.
Sinner took an even bigger step forward this year, becoming one of the best players in the world, while Musetti also made a huge step forward, stabilizing himself as the second-best Italian on the ATP Tour.
He certainly won't be an easy out for any player, and the country also has doubles specialists who will try to help from November 19th to 24th in Malaga, Spain. Vavassori and Bolelli have been playing doubles together for the entire year, and they've proven to be quite a great pairing.
Overall, it's a balanced team, but sitll, a lot will depend on Sinner. If they didn’t have Sinner last year, they wouldn’t have won because he won all of the matches he played.
He played three singles matches and won all of them, and two doubles matches and also won those. That’s how he became the nation’s favourite, and this year he’ll try to do the same.
Time will tell whether he succeeds, but his commitment to Italy must be praised at a time when some players are skipping the competition.