Filippo Volandri will be without his star player at the 2025 Davis Cup Finals.
World number two Jannik Sinner won’t represent Italy at this year’s Davis Cup Finals, despite winning the event in 2023 and 2024.
Instead, Sinner will finish his season after the ATP Finals and begin preparations for the Australian Open in January.
With Sinner out of the picture, Volandri has called up Lorenzo Musetti, Flavio Cobolli, Matteo Berrettini, Simone Bolelli, and Andrea Vavassori to the team.
Italy still has one of the strongest squads in the competition, although the absence of a four-time Grand Slam champion won’t go unnoticed.
Sharing his thoughts on Sinner’s decision to skip the event, Volandri suggested two changes he believes the Davis Cup should implement.
Filippo Volandri doesn’t think the Davis Cup should be played every year
During an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, Volandri had this to say about the future of the Davis Cup.
“I believe it shouldn’t necessarily be played every year,” he said.
Volandri’s suggestion is certainly a radical one, given that the Davis Cup has (for the most part) been an annual event since its first edition in 1900.
However, as the Davis Cup is described as the ‘World Cup of Tennis’, perhaps such a change would make sense…
The FIFA World Cup (soccer) is played every four years and is one of the biggest sporting events on the calendar.
Maybe the prestige of the Davis Cup could grow if fans had to wait four years to watch the best players in the world represent their countries.
Volandri doesn’t think that’s the only problem facing the event, however, as he, like many others, believes the Davis Cup shouldn’t be played in the final week of the year.
“Above all, it needs a better placement: it can’t be held in the last week of the season, when everyone is exhausted,” he said.
“If we consider it important, we need to give it the place it deserves.
“The problem is that it’s an ITF event on an ATP calendar that leaves no other space.”
With players managing injuries, they often skip the Davis Cup, just as Sinner has in 2025.
There is still a faint chance, however, that Sinner could change his mind and join up with his teammates in Bologna, although Volandri isn’t convinced.
“Technically, there’s a possibility of calling him up, but when a team of that caliber makes a decision like this about their schedule, it’s difficult to change mid-season,” he said.
“We remain available, the door is open, but I don’t expect a change.”
Italy and Sinner have until November 17 to make a change, with the event set to begin a day later, on November 18.
Full list of Davis Cup Finals squads
Italy has confirmed its team for the Davis Cup Finals in Bologna, as have the seven other nations set to participate.
Italy [1]
- Lorenzo Musetti
- Flavio Cobolli
- Matteo Berrettini
- Simone Bolelli
- Andrea Vavassori
- Filippo Volandri (Captain)
Germany [2]
- Alexander Zverev
- Jan-Lennard Struff
- Yannick Hanfmann
- Kevin Krawietz
- Tim Puetz
- Michael Kohlmann (Captain)
France [3]
- Ugo Humbert
- Arthur Rinderknech
- Benjamin Bonzi
- Pierre-Hugues Herbert
- Paul-Henri Mathieu (Captain)
Czechia [4]
- Jiri Lehecka
- Jakub Mensik
- Tomas Machac
- Vit Kopriva
- Adam Pavlasek
- Tomas Berdych (Captain)
Austria
- Filip Misolic
- Jurij Rodionov
- Lukas Neumayer
- Lucas Miedler
- Alexander Erler
- Jurgen Melzer (Captain)
Belgium
- Zizou Bergs
- Raphael Collignon
- Sander Gille
- Joran Vliegen
- Steve Darcis (Captain)
Spain
- Carlos Alcaraz
- Jaume Munar
- Pedro Martinez
- Marcel Granollers
- David Ferrer (Captain)
Argentina
- Francisco Cerundolo
- Tomas Martin Etcheverry
- Francisco Comesana
- Horacio Zeballos
- Andres Molteni
- Javier Frana (Captain)
Italy will play Austria, France will play Belgium, Czechia will play Spain, and Germany will play Argentina in the quarterfinals when the 2025 Davis Cup Finals begin on Tuesday, November 18.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
