The finals begin on Wednesday in Bologna. Alcaraz gives up and the Azzurri return as favourites. Berrettini and Cobolli in singles, Bolelli-Vavassori in doubles: the first opponent is Austria
Carlos Alcaraz raised the white flag and after Jannik Sinner the Davis Cup also loses the other most awaited protagonist. The infernal rhythms of today’s tennis put the Spaniard out of action, as he suffered a muscular problem that had already become evident in the Turin final lost against Sinner. Alcaraz’s absence obviously shifts the predictions and now it is more difficult to say who the favorite team is. Certainly Italy playing in Bologna in front of its fans, he will want to win the Davis Cup for the third consecutive time after the victories in 2023 and 2024. The enthusiasm around tennis exploded in Turin and will move to Bologna even if Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti will not be among the Azzurri. But the level of our team remains very high, just think about what we have at the moment nine Italian tennis players among the top one hundred in the world and the points scored in tournaments in 2025 put Italy ahead of everyone. A true Dream Team with Sinner number two and Musetti number eight which are the tip of the iceberg and then Cobolli (22), Darderi (26), Sonego (39), Berrettini (56), Arnaldi (63) Bellucci (74) and Nardi (87). We did even better than the United States, then in third place is Spain followed by France, Argentina, Russia, Australia, Serbia, Canada and Germany.
Berrettini’s challenge
It will be up to once again Matteo Berrettini the task of leading Italy to conquer the fourth silver salad bowl in the history of Italian tennis. Matteo has always had a special relationship with the national tennis team: «Being part of this team is always a great pleasure and a great honor. Captain Volandri knows this well: I used Davis as a target when I was injuredfeeling the affection the boys had for me. They all wrote to me when I wasn’t well, and they helped me a lot. I’m really happy to play for Italy once again.” And then there is Flavio Cobolli who has made great strides this season and who can’t wait to give his best for this team. For him Berrettini is like an older brother: “We’ve known each other for so long and it’s wonderful to find ourselves here and be able to fight for something so big.” Volandri can also count on Lorenzo Sonego and above all on the doubles pair. Bolelli and Vavassori they are fresh from the semi-final played in Turin and they too are coming off a 2025 full of satisfactions, they are currently the seventh doubles pair in the world. It starts on Wednesday with Austria, then in case of victory the winner between France and Belgium, on the other side of the scoreboard Spain-Czech Republic and Argentina-Germany.
