Captain Volandri on Sinner : “We don’t have enough time to explain how many things he gave us”
As you would expect, Italian Davis Cup captain Filippo Volandri had nothing but praise for Jannik Sinner following their nation’s triumph on Sunday.
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It was quite simply a historic week for Jannik Sinner at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, Spain.
In leading Italy to its second Davis Cup title and first since 1976, Sinner compiled a 5-0 record — 3-0 in singles and 2-0 in doubles. His singles victories came against Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Australian Alex de Minaur. Sinner’s wins over Griekspoor and Djokovic (the latter from three match points down) kept Italy alive in those ties, while his 6-3, 6-0 rout of De Minaur on Sunday clinched the championship.
“Jannik gave us a lot of things,” Italy captain Filippo Volandri said. “We don’t have enough time to explain how many things he gave us.”
Australian team praises Sinner’s play
Team Australia obviously had high praise for Sinner, as well.
“Jannik, he’s played awesome all week,” captain Lleyton Hewitt commented. “The last few weeks, to be honest — last few months. So he showed why he’s a top 3 or 4 player in the world at the moment. He backed up what he did yesterday against Novak and played extremely good tennis. I think the conditions and surface suit him perfectly, as well, which makes life pretty tough.
“It’s hard to go out there and play Jannik when he’s playing as well as he is and he’s 1-love up. He’s a tough frontrunner.”
“I think probably Novak said maybe a week ago, Jannik is riding this amazing wave of confidence,” De Minaur added. “He’s playing in indoor conditions with some heavy balls where he can hit the absolute crap out of the ball. He’s seriously impressive (with) the level he’s showing.”
How high can Sinner go?
Sinner’s Davis Cup heroics capped off an incredible year in which he compiled a 64-15 record. The 22-year-old climbed to No 4 in the rankings thanks in part to to four titles, including his first Masters 1000 triumph in Toronto. He also finished runner-up at the Miami Masters and the Nitto ATP Finals.
Will Sinner’s Davis Cup dominance propel him to even greater heights in 2024? When asked that question, he was more focused on the team’s accomplishment than what it could do for him from an individual standpoint.
“Let’s see,” Sinner said. “This is something different — something really special. Because you don’t play for yourself but you play for the whole team. I think every one of us, we were really excited to be part of this.”
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