Italians Need to Put Sinner in Davis Cup Pronto!

[Meles]

The level he's shown this week will work on indoor hard surface at the Caja Majica in 9 days. Clearly better than Fognini on indoor hard courts and better level than Berrettini has shown. Fognini is a great doubles player so Italy should put their new ringer immediately into the new Davis Cup Finals.

Officially Sinner mouthing Riccardo Piatti's words in his title acceptance that he is too young and tired after long season to play Davis Cup; needs to rest and train.

Its only best of three sets in the Davis Cup Finals.

 

[James P]

He's great but he's 18. He'll have plenty of opportunities in the future.

 

[TripleATeam]

They have Berrettini and Fognini which are probably better bets. Sinner played incredibly, but who knows what he'd bring against more consistent players in a deuce-advantage format?

 

[Meles]

They have Berrettini and Fognini which are probably better bets. Sinner played incredibly, but who knows what he'd bring against more consistent players in a deuce-advantage format?

True he saved every break point in the final with amazing tennis, but on deciding point he did always get to pick which side receives serve.

Most would demur with you inferring De Minaur is not consistent.

Expert Italian opinion quoted below:

Here in Italy, we've been debating this point ferociously since Barazzutti's picks were released a few weeks ago. My only reasonable explanation was that he must have been in contact with the Sinner team, and they mutually agreed that he's played enough for this season (pushing 100 matches including dubs and qualies) and it's best for him to have a good training camp. That's what Jannik appeared to confirm when Nargiso finally asked him during the trophy presentation (it had kinda been the elephant in the room all week long...). After tonight's performance, however, I don't think the talk will go away. After all, he obviously thrives on big stages, plus the Davis Cup is played on the same exact indoor greenset surface... And playing at tonight's level, I'm not sure there'd be anyone in Madrid who could hang with him.

 

[Meles]

Italy is loaded in the top 100. Sinner is numero sette

@tennis_pro #8
@Red Rick #12
Sonego #52
Cecchinato #72
Seppi #74
Travaglia #83

Yeah, he probably is an upgrade over most of them but they’ve paid the dues to be considered first. Also, the rest factor needs to be considered. He played four of the last five weeks and plays this week in Ortisei to try and guarantee DE at AO.

Final spots are set for ATP Cup Nov. 12, but presuming the Italian team's top players won't make way for their better. Direct entry to AO is paramount. Sinner may have to slum it in Ortisei.

Frankly I'm not so sure best of five Australian Open is immediate priority and hope they do pull him from Ortisei.

 

[stringertom]

Final spots are set for ATP Cup Nov. 12, but presuming the Italian team's top players won't make way for their better. Direct entry to AO is paramount. Sinner may have to slum it in Ortisei.

Frankly I'm not so sure best of five Australian Open is immediate priority and hope they do pull him from Ortisei.

Paramount priority has to be avoiding three extra Bo3 days in potentially summer swelter.

Also, Ortisei is not slumming for Jannik. It’s his way to reward all the home supporters in northern Italy. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a ball kid there before leaving the nest for Piatti’s academy.

 

[TripleATeam]

True he saved every break point in the final with amazing tennis, but on deciding point he did always get to pick which side receives serve.

Most would demur with you inferring De Minaur is not consistent.

Expert Italian opinion quoted below:

Well, in aggregate the young players are less consistent. De Minaur may be an exception, but again, it's the format change that makes me question it most. Still a tough question, but I do think Berrettini and Fognini are likely better players against the toughest opponents. Sinner will get there soon.

 

[tonylg]

If DC is a fast court, they should go with Sinner and Big Ber.

If it's a slow court, swap Sinner out for Dognini.

 

[Sparlingo]

So it's Italy, Canada and USA in the Davis Cup pool. Round robin - 2 singles and 1 double. Is that right? I'm not sure if DC gives any consideration to TV ratings and crowd appeal but a Sinner/Shapo match would be box office I think. Also an Opelka/Sinner match would have appeal in that great big USA market.

 

[Krish872007]

Forget Davis Cup, Sinner will make the Semi-Finals of the 2020 Australian Open.

 

[Shaolin]

It would be a sin not to.

 

[TheGhostOfAgassi]

Basta!

 

[TheGhostOfAgassi]

So it's Italy, Canada and USA in the Davis Cup pool. Round robin - 2 singles and 1 double. Is that right? I'm not sure if DC gives any consideration to TV ratings and crowd appeal but a Sinner/Shapo match would be box office I think. Also an Opelka/Sinner match would have appeal in that great big USA market.

Not sure if Italians care so much if Americans like them or not, tv rating and all that.

 

[James P]

Most Americans have no idea who Jannik Sinner is. Furthermore, outside of the actual tennis fans in the U.S., none will care.

 

[Meles]

Well, in aggregate the young players are less consistent. De Minaur may be an exception, but again, it's the format change that makes me question it most. Still a tough question, but I do think Berrettini and Fognini are likely better players against the toughest opponents. Sinner will get there soon.

I can't rank Sinner on hard courts because Recent Elo etc. plus points won really new:

Name​	Hard Rank​	Average​	Elo Rank​	Points Rank​
Matteo Berrettini​	21​	21​	7​	35​
Fabio Fognini​	46​	54​	24​	84​

The above is weak and bad.

Jannik Sinner​

58​

64​

89​

38​

Sinner was 38th in points won on hard courts with 50.34%. But until Recent Elo is bumped up (Sinner 89) for this last week (and I'm not sure it will) won't have his impartial hard court ranking post Milan. Just went over to tennis abstract which includes challengers in its point won numbers (Ultimate tennis Stats does not) and Sinner sits at 51.8% for the year which in 2019 would be 15th on points. Sinner 54.5% points won in Milan with 70.7% on serve points the best part of it.

Sinner just destroyed de Minaur who is 17 on recent Elo. Also beat handily three others with higher Recent Elo. Suspect he'll jump to around 40. So probably around top 30 by this hard court ranking, well ahead of Fabio who'd be a huge asset in doubles.
@Baseline_Bungle please show to Italian Tennis Federation next time you see Pietrangeli.

 

[Meles]

Look I don't claim to have full insider knowledge of the situation... you also have to consider that the DC team, the NextGen event and Supertennis, the TV channel that covers it, are all within the purview of the infamous FIT - the Italian Tennis Federation. And knowing their history, it's entirely possible that they just royally F****D UP, and that now, given the public upheaval in light of Sinner's performance in Milan, they are orchestrating some kind of cover-their-a$$es plan. I suppose it's also conceivable that in the next couple of days someone gets "injured", or Flavia has pregnancy issues, or Seppi gets lost in the Colorado mountains and... Lo and behold: Sinner is playing singles against Shapo in a week.
The only thing I know for sure is that if Barazzutti actually chose to exclude Sinner on merit (he HAS shown a tendency to pick strictly by ranking...), he needs to be fired instantly... and possibly committed.

 

[UnderratedSlam]

I wanted to cast a vote in the poll, but there is no DAVIS CUP DOESN'T EXIST ANYMORE option...