Italian Davis Cup captain Corrado Barazzutti told in an interview to Italian Sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport that Matteo Berrettini and Jannik Sinner have the chance to win a Grand Slam title in the future.
“Matteo has made a step forward in his career by joining the top 10. It’s important that he could train for the 2021 season without injuries. He needs to play many matches to find a good rhythm and the confidence. I hope that the calendar can help him. He is a relative newcomer and he has still room for improvement. Don’t rule Fabio Fognini out. He underwent two surgeries and it was not easy to recover from that and return to his best shape. As he was trying to find a good rhythm by playing some matches on the Tour, he was tested positive for the Covid-19. When he was training with me until October, he could not fully train, because the pain had not disappeared. First he has to return to his best shape. The first months will be difficult, but I am sure that he will return to his best level during the clay season. Jannik Sinner will have the opportunity to train with Rafael Nadal in Australia and this experience will make him grow. He will have to deal with the pressure. Everyone expects great results soon and will have ups and downs. I think that Matteo and Jannik can win a Grand Slam title in the future. Berrettini has already played a Grand Slam semifinal at the US Open. Sinner reached the quarter final at Roland Garros. In a Grand Slam tournament what matters most is to be competitive for two weeks. Players need to be lucky with the draw. The Big Three will not be at the top for a long time and our players will take advantage and fight for the big titles. There are good players like Salvatore Caruso, Gianluca Mager and Stefano Travaglia. If I can bet 1 euro, I would focus on Marco Cecchinato. He has reurned to his best shape and will be again one of the most competitive players on clay. A semifinal at Roland Garros can not be forgotten in three years”, said Barazzutti.
Italy could host some round robin of the revamped Davis Cup Finals in Turin in 2021. A 10-week bidding process opened this week for European cities interested to join Madrid in hosting the next edition of the Davis Cup, which will be held over 11 days across three host cities.
“Davis Cup organisers contacted me to ask for an opinion on the the new format. I told them that hosting the Davis Cup in three days would help this event return to its old tradition, hoping that the crowd will be able to attend our matches soon. It will be very emotional, but at the same time a big responsibility. It will not be enough just to take part in this event”.
