TURIN, Italy (Reuters) -Lorenzo Musetti has withdrawn from the Italy team which will defend their Davis Cup title in Bologna next week, with the 23-year-old citing physical and family reasons after his loss to Carlos Alcaraz at the ATP Finals in Turin on Thursday.
Italy, who have won the past two editions, were already without Jannik Sinner after the world number two decided not to take part, preferring to prioritise preparations for his Australian Open title defence.
Musetti made his debut at the season-ending championships in Turin this week as a late replacement following the withdrawal of Novak Djokovic, having missed out on automatic qualification after defeat to the Serb in Athens on Saturday.
The Italian, unlike the other seven players involved in the ATP Finals, had no time to prepare at the Inalpi Arena prior to the tournament, and along with his almost three-hour match with Djokovic, had gone the distance in two other rounds in Athens.
"Given my physical condition and my family situation, in agreement with captain Filippo Volandri, I have decided not to participate in the Davis Cup finals in Bologna," said Musetti, whose partner is due to give birth shortly.
"Obviously, there is a lot of regret and disappointment for how I came into this competition. With a better approach, perhaps I would have tried to play it, despite the family commitment.
"I knew that physical fatigue was difficult to shake off after the battles of the last few months, and especially the last few weeks, in one day."
Musetti was part of Italy's team for their two recent wins, and his place is expected to be taken by Lorenzo Sonego who has been in Turin practicing in recent days.
A win over Alcaraz would have sent Musetti through to the semi-finals, but despite an excellent first set performance, the Italian went down 6-4 6-1 in his final round-robin match, with the Spaniard now confirmed as the year-end world number one.
Alcaraz won all three matches to top the Jimmy Connors Group and will face either Alexander Zverev or Felix Auger-Aliassime in the last four. The 22-year-old will be part of Spain's team at the Davis Cup which runs from November 18-23.
Alcaraz said Davis Cup was special because "you're playing for your country, you're playing with your teammates."
"It's totally different. I think it's one of the most privileged things you can do in our sport, representing your country.
"I'm playing this year. I really want to win the Davis Cup one day because for me it's a really important, important tournament," he said after Thursday's win.
He said for Sinner and Musetti, skipping the Davis Cup is "normal for them because the season has been so long".
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Sonali Paul)
