{"id":92717,"date":"2025-10-23T14:46:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T18:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=92717"},"modified":"2025-10-23T14:58:43","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T18:58:43","slug":"jannik-sinner-accepts-backlash-over-davis-cup-withdrawal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/10\/23\/jannik-sinner-accepts-backlash-over-davis-cup-withdrawal\/","title":{"rendered":"Jannik Sinner Accepts Backlash Over Davis Cup Withdrawal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Journalists, former players, and supporters have questioned Jannik Sinner\u2019s commitment to his national team in response to his choice to skip the Davis Cup Finals in Bologna. The world #2, who announced earlier this week<\/a> that he would rest and prepare for the 2026 season instead of competing, now finds himself at the centre of a storm back home.<\/p>\n

National Outcry<\/h4>\n

Despite being the catalyst for Italy\u2019s last two Davis Cup wins, Sinner has faced criticism from local media all week for his decision. Veteran journalist Bruno Vespa openly questioned Sinner\u2019s commitment to his country<\/a>, contrasting his absence with Carlos Alcaraz\u2019s confirmed participation for Spain.<\/p>\n

\n

Perch\u00e9 un italiano dovrebbe tifare Sinner? Parla tedesco (giusto ,e\u2019 la sua lingua), risiede a Montecarlo, non gioca per la nazionale in Coppa Davis per prendersi una settimana di vacanza in pi\u00f9. Onore ad Alcaraz che scende in campo per la sua Spagna.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Bruno Vespa (@BrunoVespa) October 22, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Two-time Roland Garros champion and arguably the greatest Italian men\u2019s tennis player before Sinner himself, Nicola Pietrangeli, went even further when speaking to local reporters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an affront to Italian sports. I don\u2019t understand when he mentions a difficult choice. He has to play tennis, not go to war. When it comes to the Davis Cup, I get annoyed because a player\u2019s objective should be to wear the Italian jersey. But unfortunately, I\u2019m speaking from another era. I hope he won\u2019t go play elsewhere during the Davis Cup. Today, the world is filled with money and we\u2019re leaving heart aside.\u201d<\/p>\n

Voices of Support<\/h4>\n

Not everyone in Italy has shared the criticism. Filippo Volandri, captain of the Italian Davis Cup team, said that while the decision hurts, it\u2019s part of the modern game\u2019s realities:<\/a> \u201cIt happens to all players, even the very best. [Alexander] Zverev hasn\u2019t played it for years, nor [Roger] Federer or [Rafael] Nadal. There are seasons that lead you to arrive at certain moments in different physical and mental conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adriano Panatta has also defended Sinner<\/a>. In a column for Corriere<\/em>, he explained that today\u2019s players must show complete commitment, almost a sense of devotion, as they manage their careers like CEOs of companies that bear their names. According to Panatta, Sinner has already delivered for Italy by winning two Davis Cups and now deserves a break to relaunch his ambitions, winning more Slams, matching Alcaraz, and reclaiming the #1 spot.<\/p>\n

Sinner has remained composed in the face of the\u00a0 criticism. Speaking in Vienna this week, he declined to engage with the growing controversy and accepted all the criticism: “All I can say is that I accept all criticism. I have already spoken extensively on this matter and have nothing more to add.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Italy prepares to defend its Davis Cup title without its best player, opinions remain divided. What is certain is that Sinner is standing by his decision, as both he and Team Italy look to finish their 2025 seasons strongly in their own ways.<\/p>\n

Main photo credit: Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Journalists, former players, and supporters have questioned Jannik Sinner\u2019s commitment to his national team in response to his choice to skip the Davis Cup Finals in Bologna. The world #2, who announced earlier this week that he would rest and prepare for the 2026 season instead of competing, now finds himself at the centre of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5608,"featured_media":63979,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,282],"tags":[9537,5862,5797],"class_list":["post-92717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-atp","category-davis-cup","tag-davis-cup-finals","tag-jannik-sinner","tag-nicola-pietrangeli"],"modified_by":"Jim Smith","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5608"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92717"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92743,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92717\/revisions\/92743"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}