Sinner to miss Italy’s Davis Cup title defence

Jannik Sinner, a four-time Grand Slam champion, will not play for Italy until the country’s next-month bid for a third consecutive Davis Cup title.

The 24-year-old won the Saudi Arabian Six Kings Slam exhibition event on Saturday and won all four Grand Slam singles finals in 2025. She also won the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

Sinner is scheduled to compete in the ATP Tour Finals in Turin on November 9 through November 16, but Italy’s Filippo Volandri claimed the world no. 2 had “not given his availability” to play at the Davis Cup in Bologna from November 18 to November 23.

The highest-ranked singles players for Italy will be Flavio Cobolli and Lorenzo Musetti, who are both in the eighth and 22nd places in the world, when they face Austria in the quarter-final.

“The Davis Cup is, and will remain, his home, and I’m confident Jannik will soon play for the team once more,” Volandri said.

Following several players’ concerns about a demanding tennis schedule in recent weeks, Sinner’s absence is said to be to allow him to have extra preparation time for the start of the following season.

British number one Jack Draper said on social media that “the tour and the calendar must adapt if any of us are going to achieve some sort of longevity” after Holger Rune picked up a season-ending injury at the Nordic Open on Saturday.