The Davis Cup Finals were noticeably missing the two biggest stars in men’s tennis right now.
Jannik Sinner elected to skip the Davis Cup Finals this year, while Carlos Alcaraz was forced to make a late withdrawal due to a hamstring injury.
Despite their absences, both of their respective nations made it to the final, with Italy beating Spain to win the Davis Cup for a third consecutive year.
The Davis Cup Finals still had plenty of intrigue without Alcaraz and Sinner, but many questions remain about the future of the event.
John Isner calls for the Davis Cup to make a change which would incentivise Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz
Although he was intending to play the event this year, Alcaraz had called for the Davis Cup to change to every two years, rather than to be annually.
Davis Cup Finals tournament director Feliciano Lopez has dismissed this criticism, but former top 10 player John Isner believes that is what needs to be done to incentivise top players like Alcaraz and Sinner to compete in it after a long season.
“I go back to Carlos Alcaraz’s quote, if it’s possible to not have it every year. It would make the event more unique and prestigious,” Isner said on the Nothing Major podcast. “I get the Davis Cup funds a lot of little federations around the world, so you can’t just snap your fingers and do that, it might affect so many others.
“But I think not having it every single year would help. I think that allure and the attractiveness of the event would be a lot more appealing to these top guys. Obviously these guys are going to be coming straight from the World Tour Finals and straight from Paris indoors.
“There is a lot of tennis on the schedule and they need to take a break to gear up for the following season, so it’s tough to come off that high if you are a guy like Alcaraz or Sinner, from the World Tour Finals and then gear back up to play Davis Cup.
“I know you are playing for your country, and these guys are absolute warriors, but it’s really hard to do that. For Davis Cup to be ultra successful, tennis is star driven and you need these guys in that event.”
Is this current Italy team the greatest-ever Davis Cup team?
What was the average singles ranking of players competing in the Davis Cup Final?
It was not only Sinner who was missing from Italy’s squad, with world number eight Lorenzo Musetti also withdrawing from the Davis Cup Finals.
Spain were also without their number two player, with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina having a public fallout with captain David Ferrer.
Will Jannik Sinner regret not playing at the Davis Cup after Italy’s win?
If Italy and Spain had fielded their top singles players in the final of the Davis Cup, then they would have had an average ranking of 6.25.
Instead, the combination of Flavio Cobolli, Matteo Berrettini, Jaume Munar and Pablo Carreno Busta gave the final of the Davis Cup an average ranking of 50.75.
| Italy | ATP Ranking | Spain | ATP Ranking |
| Jannik Sinner | No.2 | Carlos Alcaraz | No.1 |
| Lorenzo Musetti | No.8 | Alejandro Davidovich Fokina | No.14 |
| Flavio Cobolli | No.22 | Jaume Munar | No.36 |
| Luciano Darderi | No.26 | Pablo Carreno Busta | No.89 |
| Lorenzo Sonego | No.39 | Roberto Bautista Agut | No.92 |
| Matteo Berrettini | No.56 | Pedro Martinez | No.94 |
There does not appear to be any plans to change the frequency of the Davis Cup anytime soon, with the draw for 2026 already made.
However, one significant change has been made to the Davis Cup next year, with the team event moving to a different location.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
