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‘Davis Cup has become bit of a joke’: Jannik Sinner slammed for withdrawal in bombshell verdict
Jannik Sinner opted to pull out of the Davis Cup finals, instead choosing to gear up for next season.
Italy defeated Spain to clinch their fourth Davis Cup title, and a third in a row, despite the absence of stars like Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti. Matteo Berrettini and Flavio Cobolli hogged the spotlight in their absence, both winning their singles matches.
Sinner opted to pull out of the Davis Cup finals, instead choosing to gear up for next season. Meanwhile, Musetti wasn't present.
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Former tennis player John Lloyd weighed in on the Davis Cup final between Italy and Spain, pointing out that during his time, nobody could have missed representing their country in the tournament. Speaking to The Tennis Gazette, he said, "That would never have happened."
"To be honest, my reaction was sadness, not because Italy won it, but because of where the Davis Cup has come now. This, to me, I have been saying for years and years, that the Davis Cup has become a bit of a joke. It’s managed to get away with it, because when it’s being played in a different country, whether it’s patriotic, you still get people coming to watch no matter what. But you cannot have a competition that is billed as the greatest team competition when you have one player in the top 10 playing", he added.
Meanwhile, Fabio Fognini said, "What do I think of the new Davis Cup? They’ve transformed it, they say for the worse. I think so too. The top players are asking for it to be played once every two years. I don’t know what to think."
"Of course, the withdrawals of Sinner and Alcaraz have made it lose its luster. There are no names; only [Alexander] Zverev was in the top 10. It’s not good for Davis Cup. It needs to be revisited. Of course, Jannik and Carlos’ priority will never be the Davis Cup," he added.
