MALAGA – Jannik Sinner was in the locker room, getting ready to go on court and try to win a match that would give Italy its second Davis Cup title in a row, when his teammate, Matteo Berrettini, was asked about being so close to a championship.
Berrettini, who won the first match of the best-of-three final against the Netherlands on Sunday, refused to take anything for granted.
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“I know tennis,” he said. “It’s unpredictable.”
Maybe most of the time it is. Not lately, though. Not when Sinner, who is just 23, is the one swinging a racket. He simply does not lose matches. Doesn't even cede a set nowadays. Wrapping up an eventful season that featured a 73-6 record and eight individual titles — including at the Australian Open in January, the U.S. Open in September and the ATP Finals a week ago — Sinner led Italy past the Netherlands for the Davis Cup with a 7-6 (2), 6-2 victory over Tallon Griekspoor.
“Jannik in this kind of form, this kind of shape, this kind of confidence — he’s incredibly tough to beat,” Griekspoor said.
Consider that Sinner just completed the first season by a man without a straight-set loss since Roger Federer in 2005. And what a way to finish: Sinner won his last 14 matches and his last 26 sets.
Go back a little further, and he's claimed 29 of his past 30 contests, with the only loss in that span coming against the other young player at the top of men's tennis, four-time major champion Carlos Alcaraz, who is 21.
“He just proved,” Berrettini said about Sinner, “that he’s the best in the world.”
Still, no discussion of Sinner’s 2024 should ignore what went on away from the court: In August, shortly before the U.S. Open began, he was exonerated after twice testing positive for a trace amount of an anabolic steroid in March.
The World Anti-Doping Agency's appeal of that ruling is still pending — and could remain that way throughout the upcoming offseason.
“I mean, of course it’s in the head a little bit. I always say, we had three hearings; three hearings which came out in a positive way. So hopefully also the next one (will),” Sinner said, adding that he is not concerned about the case.
“For me, the most important part is that all the people who are around me, and know me as a human being, trust me, no? That’s also the reason I kept playing the level I had," he said. "Of course, I had some ups and downs, and whoever knows me, (knows) I was emotionally a bit down and a bit also heartbroken. But sometimes life gives you difficulties and you just have to stand for it.”
Dutch captain Paul Haarhuis was asked for his take on Sinner's drug case.
“What’s my feeling? I feel that Jannik, in my personal opinion, is an unbelievable nice guy (and) great player,” Haarhuis said, “but we (might) never know what happened.”
There were only two, ever-so-brief moments on court where Sinner showed a hint of vulnerability Sunday.
One came when he was broken by Griekspoor to make it 2-all in the second, which got the Dutch fans roaring. Sinner's response? He won the four remaining games.
The other came as he was trying to serve out the victory from 5-2, 40-love. Three match points. Alas, they disappeared on two forehands into the net and a forehand long.
He reset and, two points later, was able to begin celebrating with his teammates.
“I knew it could be the last point of the year and I could finish an incredible season for me. This (Davis Cup) success means a lot to me, otherwise I wouldn’t have been here,” Sinner said, explaining that he lost a bit of focus. “I’m human. There are always emotions. No one is a machine.”
Berrettini, sitting a few seats away at their post-match news conference, shook his head.
“OK,” the 2021 Wimbledon runner-up said with a smile. “He showed he’s human.”
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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis