Paolo Bertolucci: "The Davis Cup is long dead"

Paolo Bertolucci, winner of the Davis Cup in Santiago in 1976 along with Adriano Panatta, Corrado Barazzutti, and Tonino Zugarelli, expressed a very drastic opinion to Adnkronos about Davis itself and the possible forfeit of Lorenzo Musetti, who could make the same choice as Jannik Sinner, for the Finals. Here are Bertolucci’s words.

“Davis is long dead, it doesn&#8217t matter to the players anymore. The’goal for top-ranked tennis players are Slams, ATP Finals and a few Masters 1000″.

“Lorenzo finished late last night and was so tired, he is in danger of playing Davis but not being able to compete to his full potential. If he were to forgo being on the court in Bologna next week it would be a choice to accept.”

“Let us not forget that he has been playing continuously for seven weeks. He wouldn&#8217t be the first nor the last high-level player not to play it. In my day Davis was vitally important. Over the last 30 years it has gradually lost more and more centrality. It is at the bottom of the calendar and at the bottom of the players” priorities.