Sinner caps superb year as Italy retain Davis Cup title

Jannik Sinner ended an extraordinary 2024 season on a high by battling past the Netherlands' Tallon Griekspoor to help Italy retain their Davis Cup title.

The world number one continued his dominant year with a hard-fought 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 win over Griekspoor.

That came after Matteo Berrettini claimed a composed 6-4 6-2 victory against Botic van de Zandschulp to hand Italy a 1-0 advantage in Malaga.

It caps a triumphant week for emerging tennis powerhouse Italy after the women's team secured the Billie Jean King Cup title on Wednesday.

For Sinner, it concludes a successful season that saw him claim his first two Grand Slam titles at January's Australian Open and September's US Open.

The 23-year-old, who also won the season-ending ATP Finals earlier this month, has lost just six of his 76 ATP Tour matches in the last 12 months.

However, he has also been embroiled in an ongoing doping controversy which has left his immediate future in the sport uncertain.

Sinner looked fatigued as he was forced to a tie-break in the opening set against Griekspoor, but surged late on in the second to seal Italy's third Davis Cup triumph on his fourth match point.

Italy become the sixth team to win back-to-back Davis Cup titles since the final stage was introduced 52 years ago, and first since the Czech Republic in 2013.

When Italy won the Davis Cup last year, Berrettini watched from the sidelines as he recovered from an ankle injury that he sustained at the 2023 US Open.

The problem kept him out of action for six months and saw him drop down the rankings, out of the world's top 150.

However, he returned to action in March and quickly claimed three titles - the most he has ever won in a calendar year.

Now ranked 35th, Berrettini has been crucial to Italy's title defence this week, joining Sinner to win the doubles decider against Argentina before winning his semi-final singles match against Australia's Thanasi Kokkinakis.

And he replicated his fine form against Van de Zandschulp, producing 10 forehand winners and 16 aces on his way to victory.

"It feels unbelievable, it feels really great to be on court - if you win it's better, but being able to be healthy, here and enjoying this kind of atmosphere is the most important thing for me, because I missed that," said Berrettini.

"I missed these moments and that's why I'm really happy.