"Jannik Sinner is the second-best player in the world right now" - Tennis fans react to Italy lifting the 2023 Davis Cup
Several tennis fans hailed Jannik Sinner's performance at the 2023 Davis Cup Finals after Italy clinched their first title in 47 years.
Italy locked horns with Australia in the final of the Davis Cup in Malaga on Sunday. Australia made their way into the final after defeating Finland 2-0 in the semifinal. The Italians, meanwhile, faced a far tougher test against Novak Djokovic's Serbia. They came from behind to win 2-1 and reach the final for the first time after 1998.
In the final, the Italians had a dream start as Matteo Arnaldi beat Australia's Alexei Popyrin 7-5, 2-6, 6-4. That set the stage for Jannik Sinner, who dominated Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-0 to help Italy clinch the Davis Cup title.
Several tennis fans took to X (formerly Twitter) to congratulate the Italian team and also lavish praise on the Australian team. One user reflected on Italy's group-stage loss against Canada and wrote:
"Italy are 2023 Davis Cup Champions. It seems like a lifetime ago they got swept 3-0 by Canada in the first group stage tie back in September! But here they are, Champs. What a year for Jannik Sinner, too! #DavisCupFinals."
Another fan commented on the match against De Minaur and dubbed Sinner as the second-best player in the world at the moment.
"Brutal stuff. 6-3 6-0 is even more one-sided than I expected. The last 2 months have confirmed that Sinner is the second-best player in the world right now. Team Italy wins the Davis Cup for the first time since 1976."
One user claimed that Sinner, Lorenzo Sonego, Matteo Arnaldi, Simone Bolelli, and Lorenzo Musetti make up the "Italian golden generation."
"Italy wins the Davis Cup for the 2nd time! First win since 1976 and first final since 1998. Jannik Sinner MVP of the entire tournament by far. Sonego, Arnaldi, Bolelli, and Musetti complete the team. The Italian Golden Generation has already converted 🇮🇹🎾."
Here are some more reactions from tennis fans:
Italy's Davis Cup captain hails Jannik Sinner
During the press conference following their Davis Cup triumph, Italy's captain Filippo Volandri spoke highly of the entire squad and made a special mention of Jannik Sinner's contribution to their success.
"Yeah, Jannik gave us a lot of things. We don't have enough time to explain how many things he gave us, but all the guys here and the guys that are not here right now gave us a lot of things. That's why we manage, that's why we really won this trophy," Volandri said.
The Italian captain further stressed that the team played as a family and overcame several difficulties to eventually lift the 2023 Davis Cup. He concluded:
"We had, yeah, I always say we had a lot of emergency, but being close, play as a family, yeah, we overtake of this kind of things, and yeah, we did it."
Jannik Sinner clinched four ATP titles in 2023, including the Vienna Open and the China Open, to end the season as World No. 4. He also won his career's maiden Masters 1000 title, defeating World No. 12 Alex de Minaur 6-4,6-1 in the final of the 2023 National Bank Open in Montreal, Canada.