Who needs Jannik Sinner?
Italy won its third consecutive Davis Cup with a 2-0 victory over Spain Sunday, with both nations missing their respective tennis talismen in the shape of Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. After Matteo Berrettini defeated Pablo Carreño Busta in straight sets, Flavio Cobolli came from a set down against Jaume Munar to extend his nation’s dominance at the men’s tennis equivalent of the soccer World Cups. After going down 6-2 in the first set, Cobolli won a second-set tiebreak 7-5, before finishing off Munar 2-6, 7-6(5), 7-5 to spark wild celebrations in Bologna.
With the Davis Cup at the center of several existential discussions over its future in the past week, Berrettini and Cobolli’s triumph was a reminder that in tennis, star power can still be decentered from national pride. Sinner, the world No. 2 and Italy’s standout male player in its rise as a tennis force, had skipped the Davis Cup to give himself an extended offseason. Italy’s second-best player by ranking, world No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti, was also absent.
Alcaraz, the world No. 1, had been down to play for Spain, but had to withdraw from the competition due to a muscle injury.
The top two in the world, and world No. 3 Alexander Zverev, had all declared a preference for the Davis Cup to move to a less regular schedule, every other year or once every two years. It would, they said, restore the gravitas to a competition that had come to lack it. But for Cobolli especially, the past week has been a welcome reminder that, given a stage on which to play, the elite of men’s tennis who may find its upper echelons too hard to conquer can still put on a show.
The 23-year-old Italian saved seven match points against Zizou Bergs in his previous match, ripping off his shirt at the end of a 32-point tiebreak that ended 17-15 in his favor and sent his country into the final. He and Bergs, far from favorites for tennis’ biggest prizes, were at the center of their sport’s universe in that moment. Cobolli found himself there again against Munar, as a cracked crosscourt forehand drew the error that sent Berrettini and the rest of the Italian cohort rushing onto the court in delight.
Italy has now won three Davis Cups and two Billie Jean King Cups in a row, cementing itself at the top of men’s and women’s tennis. Its deal to host the Davis Cup runs through 2027; it will host the ATP Tour Finals, the season-ending competition for the top eight men’s players in the world, through 2030. It has decentralized its performance tennis programs and added numerous lower-level tournaments to blood young players. For 2026, every other nation will be trying to catch up.