Davis Cup, Volandri chooses the blue quintet: Sinner is back, Berrettini is gone

Matteo Arnaldi, Simone Bolelli, Lorenzo Musetti, Jannik Sinner, Lorenzo Sonego. Captain Filippo Volandri will rely on this Italian quintet in the Davis Cup Final 8, which takes place in Malaga from November 21 to 26 at the Palacio de Deportes José Maria Martin Carpena circuit.

The Azzurri, who finished second in Group A in Bologna after overturning their defeat to title holders Canada with victories over Chile and Sweden, will challenge the Netherlands in the quarter-finals on Thursday, November 23 at 10am. final, which ended at the top of Group D in Split, counting on a team consisting of Griekspoor, Koolhof, Middelkop and van de Zandschulp.

Sinner, who withdrew from the Davis Cup in Bologna to recover from the US Open, a choice that allowed him to recover to win the ATP in Beijing and qualify for the 2023 ATP Finals in Turin, will return in the Italian jersey. ready to give his all at the decisive moment of a team competition.

The precedents between Italy and the Netherlands are encouraging: seven successes out of seven for the Azzurri, most recently in 2010. Italy reached the final of the competition seven times, winning its only title with success over Chile in 1976. Netherlands The best result can be boasted in the 2001 semi-final, lost to eventual champions France. This will be the Orange’s second consecutive appearance in the Final 8: last year in Malaga they were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Australia.

If they advance to the round, Italy will decide the winner of the quarter-final between Novak Djokovic’s Serbia, the 2010 champion, and Great Britain, the Group B winners, who have won the Davis Cup 10 times, most recently in 2015.

“Arnaldi, Bolelli, Musetti, Sinner and Sonego have been called up to the Final Eight. This is the team that offers the most confidence at the moment. Berrettini is working hard to recover to 100%: for him, as for everyone else, this is a general selection criterion based on the physical and technical guarantees that can be provided.
progress in the coming weeks. We will return to Malaga with the goal of winning, that’s for sure. We showed that we have heart, character and lots and lots of quality. The path to the title will be long and difficult, we understand that. At these levels, mistakes are not allowed: you must always maintain maximum composure and concentration. And we’ll have to do that, obviously, starting with the first match between us and the Netherlands. They are a truly formidable national team that finished the group stage at the top of their group, beating a very high level opponent like the United States. They have excellent singles players and top-notch doubles players. We are working to be ready and we will be ready. I can count on a group consisting of outstanding guys in all respects, who are ready to give their all to represent these colors. There is nothing more satisfying than wearing the blue shirt and fighting for it,” said Filippo Volandri, explaining the calls.