“Tried New Things”: Jannik Sinner Believes Missing Davis Cup Helped Him Beat Carlos Alcaraz & Daniil Medvedev

Jannik Sinner won the China Open in Beijing recently for his 7th ATP title and moved up to No.4 in the world rankings. The Italian player came under criticism for missing the Davis Cup as he took a break due to workload management. Now, fresh from a break, the 22-year-old is back with a title that fetched him 500 points.

Sinner has admitted that he will take part in the Davis Cup finals in Malaga and sounded confident about Italy’s chances in the tournament. He came under a lot of criticism for missing the Davis Cup after the US Open.

Davis Cup break helped Jannik Sinner win the China Open

Sinner’s decision to miss the Davis Cup paid dividends in his performance in the China Open. The Italian star defeated the top seed Carlos Alcaraz to book a place in the final, where he went on the defeat the favorite Daniil Medvedev. The 22-year-old admitted in a post-match press conference that he took a break from the Davis Cup to work on new things in his game, which paid off at the China Open. Sinner mentioned he made some tweaks with his service and returns to win the title in Beijing.

“I tried new things and served a higher percentage, but it’s not enough. And it doesn’t mean I will always serve like this. The choice not to go to Davis was ultimately for that purpose, planning is done based on objectives. The difference I still feel is physical: my movements on the court can improve, volleys, serves, everything can improve. I haven’t reached the peak, not at all.”

The changes showed the improvement in Sinner’s game as the Italian defeated Daniil Medvedev for the first time in his career and improved his head-to-head record against Carlos Alcaraz to 4-3. However, Sinner did mention that he will keep experimenting with his game.

Sinner talks about the Davis Cup

Sinner’s decision to skip the Davis Cup was met with controversy, notably in Italy, where he was expected to represent his country. Despite the response, the young Italian has re-affirmed his decision to play at the Davis Cup finals in Malaga. Although the Italian team was without their star prodigy, they found a way to reach the last 8, where they will take on Canada in the next round.

When discussing about the Davis Cup final, Sinner praised the bench strength of the Italian team and admitted that he will be a part of it. The 22-year-old was full of pride describing the honor of pulling on the blue shirt of Italy and hoped that they could win the tournament. With the new World No.4 in great form and Davis Cup now up for grabs after Spain’s defeat, it would be interesting to see which tournaments Sinner would prioritize, coming towards the end of the season.