Lowly Lorenzo Musetti pips megastar Jannik Sinner to top Italian reward

Even though he missed three months of action due to his doping ban, Sinner was second behind Carlos Alcaraz for most titles won this season as he won six trophies in total while the Spaniard collected eight.

Besides his Australian Open, Wimbledon and ATP Finals titles, the Italian also won the Paris Masters, China Open and Vienna Open while he topped the prize-money list for 2025 as he earned $19,120,641 with the cheque of $5.071m - the highest prize money in ATP Tour history - he picked up at the Finals in Turin helping him to usurp Alcaraz ($18,803,427).

But all of that was not enough to win the Gazzetta Sports Award for the second consecutive year as he was beaten to the trophy by fellow tennis player Lorenzo Musetti.

World No. 8 Musetti didn't win any titles in 2025, but he did finish runner-up at the Monte Carlo Masters, Chengdu Open and Hellenic Championships while he also reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros and the quarter-finals of the US Open.

The 23-year-old's major achievements were his top-10 breakthrough as he started the year at No 17 and reached a career-high of No 6 in June while also competing at the ATP Finals for the first time, exiting after the group phase.

"It's been a truly wonderful season, with so many firsts: I've cracked the top 10, reached my first final in Monte Carlo, and qualified for the Finals for the first time," Musetti said.

"I've been looking for this leap in maturity for a long time. Sinner and Alcaraz? I'm working to bridge this gap. I met with both of them this year, and it helped me understand where I can improve. That's why I've added coach [Jose] Perlas to my team, who will work alongside [Simone] Tartarini. I hope this can lead to a definitive leap in my career."

Sinner's ban for his failed anti-doping tests in 2024 and his decision not to compete at the Davis Cup Finals this year no doubt played a big role in La Gazzetta dello Sport handing their top award to Musetti.

After successfully defending his Australian Open crown in January, Sinner then spent three months on the sidelines as he was suspended after returning two positive results for the banned substance clostebol in separate tests in March 2024.

Later in the year, he caused an outcry across Italy as he made himself unavailable for selection for the Davis Cup Finals in Bologna, as he wanted to have a longer break after the 2025 season.

Gianni Valenti, deputy director of the Italian publication, pleaded with Sinner in October to reverse his decision as he wrote in an opinion piece: "For any athlete, the national team must always be the national team, a wonderful, superior entity. That jersey provides unique emotions and is one of the few things that can unite the country.

"Yes, repeating the success at the ATP Finals in Turin is an important goal (also for the rankings). A hat-trick in blue, however, would contain even greater values. For this reason, we sincerely hope Jannik reconsiders. He has until November 17th to reconsider his plans. It would be a significant gesture towards his teammates, the fans, and also for his personal image."

He concluded: "In short, dear Jannik, between matches, stop and think. Great men are also those who know how to reverse a truly perplexing decision."

But there was no U-turn from Sinner and Musetti - who was initially part of the squad - also withdrew due to personal and fitness issues.

The Italians, though, still managed to defend their Davis Cup title as they made it three in a row despite the absence of their two biggest stars.

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