Audentes fortune iuvatfate helps those who dare. And Filippo Volandri, non-playing captain of Davis’ Italy, certainly dared by fielding two singles players like Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini in doubles against the very experienced Argentine doubles specialist pair, and even more so in doing so against cabal, after other two favored teams (United States and Spain) had tried in vain to save themselves by making that same move. It could have been a gamble, perhaps it was: Sinner and Berrettini in doubles together have practically never played, they had just been “tested” in training, while the Bolelli-Vavassori pair is a close-knit and well-tested doubles team.
The uphill day had mixed up the cards: Lorenzo Musetti’s black day had put Italy, 1-0 down, on Sinner’s shoulders. Win the second singles and win the doubles, or go home, tertium non datur. It was decided in the running after the second singles settled in 6-2, 6-1 in an hour and ten by a Sinner not in full swing (many errors).
Afterwards, they all decided to brawl together, they knew what we all saw in the end in the smile that we hadn’t seen in Sinner for a long time (not even in Turin, after having swept the most important thing, had he smiled like that): there is between Sinner and Berrettini a human, personal harmony that goes beyond the habit of the fieldwhich can compensate for the habit of sharing it which doesn’t exist: the two respect each other but not only that, they are friends.
When Berrettini was in crisis due to too many injuries Sinner was there away from the spotlight, it was Berrettini himself who told the background behind the other hug they exchanged that day in a dark suit in front of the Quirinale. Last year in the Davis Cup final, despite not being able to play, Berrettini ran to cheer: it wasn’t a facade, the facade of when you invent a team from an individual sport where everyone thinks for themselves (see Vezzali-Di Francisca), there was an authenticity supported by a promise to keep. When he won the 2024 Davis Cup, Sinner said to his injured friend Matteo: “next year we’ll win it together”. And so it was, last night: get back together, find yourself, take risks, take responsibility, play it, even improvising a little, with the idea of having fun together, hoping to bring the result as a corollary.
It went like this and it showed: that final, smiling, authentic, true embrace will be the image of the 2025 Davis Cup, however it ends: there is a long way to go Australia in the semi-final, a final after that if all goes well with the winner between Holland and Germany. We need to make sure that Musetti doesn’t get discouraged, understand who will play the next two singles, calculate whether there will be enough energy to ensure that the winning Sinner-Berrettini team doesn’t change. But in the meantime let’s enjoy this beautiful image of sport and friendship.
