Italy loses its star and Chile smiles: Jannik Sinner, sixth in the world, abandons the Davis Cup

Chile receives another news that changes the Davis Cup plans. With the national team already hard at work in Bologna, Jannik Sinner, a world six and star of the home side, announces he won’t be playing the tournament after the wear and tear he experienced at the US Open. In this way, those led by Nicolás Massú avoid another major rival in their fight for victory in Group A.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to recover after the tournaments in America and I won’t be able to be part of the Bologna team. It’s always an honor to play for our country and I’m sure I’ll return to the national team soon.” he noted on his social networks.

News that is not entirely surprising, since this Monday during his duel for the round of 16 of the United States Open, the 22-year-old tennis player was physically very complicated. He had cramps during the match against Alexander Zverev and repeatedly asked for cold towels to ease the suffocation due to New York weather conditions. He was eliminated after losing in five sets after 4 hours and 41 minutes of play.

Italy, for its part, does not only regret the loss of its number one, since it is very likely that the premises will not have Matteo Berrettini (36th ATP), victim of a painful injury at the US Open and who, after leaving the event, has not updated his personal situation.

Luckily for Chile, Italy aren’t the only team losing power, as Canada are just one loss away from missing their top three players. While Félix Auger-Aliassime (15th) and Miolis Raonic (337th, former 3 in the world) have already ruled out their presence in the definition of the team, the situation of Denis Shapovalov (26th) still remains a mystery, since he was removed from the list. The US Open due to injury and has not confirmed if he will finally join the current champion team.

As if that weren’t enough, Sweden, the last participant in Group A, will also not have their best player, as Mikael Ymer (80th) announced his retirement from tennis after being suspended by the ITF for missing the doping controls in 2022.

In this way, the Chilean cast will be the only ones of the group who will travel to Bologna with a full squad and their best names, thus increasing the illusion of being able to qualify for the knockout stage which will take place in November. The actions of this first stage of the Final begin on September 12.