Jannik Sinner’s absence from the Final Eight of the 2025 Davis Cup Finals opens a symbolic wound: after the rich exhibition shows, which only with Riyadh’s victory over Alcaraz earned him more than six million dollars, the number 2 in the world leaves the blue jersey in the key moment of the season, the one that the Italian public certainly cares about the most.

Much has been written and made ironic about Sinner’s Italian nature, about his living in Monte Carlo – a choice shared by dozens of champions and not only for fiscal reasons but also for privacy and the convenience of private structures – and Maurizio Crozza’s merciless caricature which involves him in any telepromotion is unfortunately the faithful mirror of a reality that is all too evident on TV.

Sinner renounces Davis: legitimate choice, worrying sign

But returning to the news: Jannik Sinner will not play in the Final 8 Davis Cup 2025 from 18 to 23 November in Bologna. It’s official. The South Tyrolean was not called up and his absence was confirmed both by non-playing captain Filippo Volandri and by federal president Binaghi who spoke of an “understandable and respectable but still painful choice”.

And if it is for the president, imagine for us, who read, write and remain passionate more than anything else. It is legitimate in a world like that of tennis where, more than in any other sport, the player is a freelancer who must maintain a professional structure that costs a lot of money including coaches, trainers, physiotherapists. Sinner is not a Federtennis employee: participating in Davis is a pure question of skin and choice.

Sinner has every right to manage his calendar, body and career. And at this moment the #2 in the world has chosen to play the ATP 500 in Vienna which will see him make his debut tomorrow against the German Altmaier, the Paris Masters, the last Masters 1000 of the season, and above all the Final Eight in Turin for which he is already arithmetically qualified. But…

A weakening decision

However, it is also a sign of weakening for a movement that has built its identity in the last two years also through Davis: and which now loses its symbolic player just when the tournament becomes a showcase of prestige in our country.

Sinner has maintained in recent weeks that he was “unsure” about his participation. And there is no shortage of reasons and they are almost all on his side. A busy calendar, preparation for the ATP Finals in Turin, physical management after an intense year. Nothing to dispute on this rational and personal level. However, leaving the national team after having received the great stages of exhibition and millionaire prizes – for example in events such as the Six Kings Slam – is an exit that damages the ethical value of sporting commitment. Because the only commitments that national tennis asks of its players are the Davis Cup, once a year, and the Olympics, once every four years.

When the showcase is worth more than the uniform, a crack appears in the pact between champion and country. Sinner has already achieved goals that many tennis players dream of: Slam, No. 1 ATP, record and this has contributed to changing the entire tennis scenario in our country after decades of lean conditions.

Who was there before

Sinner is certainly not the first big name to refuse the Davis Cup. Pete Sampras gave it up between 1997 and 1999 to favor majors and rankings, as did Andre Agassi, who declined historic calls, raising a lot of controversy in the USA especially with a phrase that the Americans still hold against him today: “I only play for myself”, a phrase which he regretted and apologized for a few years later.

Even His Majesty Roger Federer managed some strategic absences by limiting the commitment, because Davis didn’t “pay” like the big tournaments. Individual tennis is as prevalent today as it was then. Yet, when the national team calls you into question… something more is expected than the legal statement. Especially here and now. Because we play in Bologna.

We are his advertising audience

All in all, Italy is also the country that pays Sinner millions of euros in advertising credibility. We are his audience: and his profit.

According to Forbes, in 2024 Sinner earned around 30 million dollars, just over half of which from sponsors. Even if the ATP talks about higher prizes for winning. Again based on Forbes analyses, Sinner should raise just under 50 million euros this year. With sponsors such as Nike, Head, Rolex, Gucci, Intesa Sanpaolo, Lavazza and several others who will guarantee him almost double what he received last year.

Bologna is a rule

The fact that the final is in Bologna should be an additional motivation. Since the birth of Davis in 1900, between the old format which ended in 2018 and the new tournament, the finals of which have been held in Malaga in the last five years, Italy has hosted only two finals. At the Foro Italico in Rome in 1960 and 1961: two defeats against Australia, both 4-1.

When the team of Panatta, Bertolucci, Barazzutti and Zugarelli won its first, historic team trophy with Chile, it was played in Santiago. And many would have liked the team not to show up, to contest Pinochet’s totalitarian and brutal regime. You couldn’t see it on black and white TV. But Panatta and Bertolucci gave their response to the ferocious dictator by playing with a bright red t-shirt to remember the disappeared and activists killed by the regime.

The duty of champions

But returning to today, and to less historical topics. Holiness is not asked of the champions, but a minimum of awareness. Sinner changed the face of Italian tennis, attracted sponsors, fans and media attention. He won two Davis Cups and would have been central to the first title defense here, on our home soil.

Giving up now is not an incurable guilt, it is a choice: but it involves an emotional renunciation, a sort of “failure to serve” at the moment in which Italy asked him for availability.

The story often returns: the great champion who stays away from the national team because “it is not his goal” is not new news. After all, we have known for some time that what many consider a duty for others is a compromise. But when that champion is the iconic man of the moment in Italy, the decision weighs heavily. Sinner chose his tournaments, he chose his body, he perhaps chose the money. It’s legit. It is enough for the fans to know that he was not bound by law or divine will when called up by the national team: but only by trust and perhaps a pinch of common sense in an account that is not just sporting. It’s symbolic.