DAVIS CUP FINALS

November 21, 2023

Filippo Volandri

Simone Bolelli

Matteo Arnaldi

Jannik Sinner

Lorenzo Musetti

Lorenzo Sonego

Team Italy

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good morning. Thank you, Team Italy. We will take questions first in English and move to Italian.

Q. First of all, welcome back to Andalucia. I hope you enjoy your time here. I wanted to ask Jannik if he could walk us through the last 48 hours. How are you feeling both mentally and physically, and how is the mental process of shifting gears from such a different tournament, ATP Finals compared to Davis Cup here being with the team?

JANNIK SINNER: No, I think it's a really, really important week for all of us. Came here yesterday with obviously good feelings. It doesn't really matter what happened last week. Here is completely new situation.

It's a team event, so happy to join the Italian team. Obviously happy that, you know, the captain took also me as a player. Then let's see what's coming for this week.

I think we have a really good and strong team. We have many, many options to put on the court, and then we see how it goes. We will give 100%, and then we see what the end result will be.

Q. I just want to know kind of, Jannik, how are you feeling physically? I mean, after this long season as well as the last few weeks. I mean, in Paris you made the decision to, you know, maybe focus a bit more on Turin. Now you have just come from Turin in the last 48 hours, and you got all the way to the final there. Just wondering physically how you're feeling.

JANNIK SINNER: I think every player in the end of the season is a little bit tired. Not only physically but also mentally. It has been a really long season for all of us.

Obviously every week is different. I came here not so long ago, but physically I feel ready to compete 100%. Tomorrow I have still one practice day, which I will use to practice, but also trying to rest.

Then we see also who is going to play, no, whoever is best to put on the court. I will prepare myself to be ready, but as I said, we have so many good, good options to put on the court. Physically I feel ready to go.

Q. A question for the captain. Obviously we have had here teams like Finland, like Netherlands, maybe they consider themselves or we ask if they are the underdog, so to say. Italy, with such a good team and depth, being kind of the favorites, is it something that you have in mind, or is it something you try to block, those people that maybe say you are the favorites?

CAPTAIN FILIPPO VOLANDRI: No, no. As Jannik said, we know that we are a strong team. The players are really good players. But we know on our skin how it works, that in Davis Cup you never know that the ranking doesn't count.

So we passed already that time, so we have, yeah, more experience on that side so we know that we have to take care about every single match.

Yeah, try to be ready and give 100%. That's the most important thing. We see what gonna happen.

Q. Lorenzo, I think you beat Novak in Monte-Carlo. I'm just wondering how you would assess your season as a whole but also particularly since Monte-Carlo.

LORENZO MUSETTI: Yeah, for sure has been, let's say, a good season for the clay and for grass season. Of course I didn't end up the season as we wished, but I think it's part of my growing. A lot of things changed, a lot of first times for me.

So for sure Novak has been the best win of my career so far, and it's something that I really, you know, I dreamed when I was a kid, so it was sort of reaching a goal for me.

Now I feeling ready for this event. I'm happy to finish the year with these Finals here in Malaga.

Q. Matteo, you are the really young one of the team. Can you just speak of how you feel about being with these guys and the experience that you're going to have over this week with being in the Final 8?

MATTEO ARNALDI: Well, like I said in Bologna, for me it's amazing to be here. It's my first Finals here in Malaga, to be with the team and practice with them and enjoy the time. I think it's something special to finish my season at the best.

Like I said, I'm just enjoying this moment and trying to learn from them and from the team, because, I mean, it's the first time basically apart from, except from Bologna that I play in a team, so I'm going to try to know, understand what this means and enjoy it.