Serena Williams’ ex-coach Rennae Stubbs believes that Jannik Sinner deserves some leeway for missing the Davis Cup Finals 2025, especially in light of Italy’s victory. The World No. 2 had a busy fall, winning three tournaments in succession, including the Paris Masters and the ATP Finals to end the year on a high. Sinner spearheaded Italy’s Davis Cup challenge for the past two years, leading them to two consecutive titles. However, he declined to participate this time on account of his hectic schedule. He was heavily criticized for his decision to skip the tournament. Thanks for the submission! On the latest episode of her podcast, The Rennae Stubbs Podcast, Stubbs felt that Sinner was unduly chastised for his decision. After a lengthy season, he would naturally be exhausted. “But we have to talk about Davis Cup. Italy wins their third Davis Cup in a row, without Jannik Sinner. And remember I was like, well, everyone was like, upset at him for not playing and all this sort of stuff. I’m like, dude, the guy’s just had an incredibly long year. He’s just won the last tournament of the year. He’s exhausted,” Stubbs said. Stubbs’ co-host Caitlin Thompson then pointed out how Italy and Spain’s tennis fortunes have become intertwined over the past year. Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz contested three Majors finals in 2025, as well as the ATP Finals. Even though they weren’t present at the Davis Cup Finals, the championship round still came down to Italy and Spain. “Going back to what is a real sport, tennis. It is pretty funny to me that Italy won their third in a row, yes, without Jannik Sinner, and Spain came in second and also did not have Carlos Alcaraz. These two countries cannot escape each other. Now they’ve played against each other either in the form of Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz in all of the major tournaments, and then of course it comes down to those two in the finals,” Thompson said. Sinner tasted considerable success in 2025, winning six titles from 10 finals. Aside from his triumphs at the ATP Finals and the Paris Masters, he also won the Australian Open and Wimbledon, along with two more ATP 500 titles. He’s taking a well-deserved break, and is currently enjoying a vacation in Maldives. Jannik Sinner is the latest tennis player to make a beeline for Maldives Maldives could very well be in the running to host a tennis tournament in the future considering its popularity amongst top tennis pros. Aryna Sabalenka, Daniil Medvedev, Jelena Ostapenko, and Marketa Vondrousova, among others were recently spotted enjoying their downtime in the country. Jannik Sinner has now joined his peers by heading to Maldives for a relaxing getaway. He coincidentally bumped into Alexander Zverev on the flight to Maldives, who found humour in how most of their fellow pros have chosen the country as their favorite destination to unwind. Sinner will resume his training once he’s done with his vacation. He’s the two-time defending champion at the Australian Open. He won’t participate in any warm-up events prior to the season’s first Major. Instead, he will commence the 2026 season by playing an exhibition event with Carlos Alcaraz in South Korea.
https://www.sportskeeda.com/tennis/news-jannik-sinner-exhausted-serena-williams-ex-coach-cuts-italian-slack-italy-wins-davis-cup-without
“Jannik Sinner is exhausted” – Serena Williams’ ex-coach cuts Italian some slack after Italy wins Davis Cup without him
