Jannik Sinner's 2024: 2 Slam Grand titles, a doping case and a Davis Cup title for Italy

MALAGA, Spain (AP) — Jannik Sinner was in the locker room, getting ready to go on court and try to win a match that would give Italy its second Davis Cup title in a row, when his teammate, Matteo Berrettini, was asked about being so close to a championship.

Berrettini, who won the first match of the best-of-three final against the Netherlands on Sunday, refused to take anything for granted.

“I know tennis,” he said. “It’s unpredictable.”

Maybe most of the time it is. Not lately, though. Not when Sinner, who is just 23, is the one swinging a racket. He simply does not lose matches. Doesn't even cede a set nowadays. Wrapping up an eventful season that featured a 73-6 record and eight individual titles — including at the Australian Open in January, the U.S. Open in September and the ATP Finals a week ago — Sinner led Italy past the Netherlands for the Davis Cup with a 7-6 (2), 6-2 victory over Tallon Griekspoor.

“Jannik in this kind of form, this kind of shape, this kind of confidence — he’s incredibly tough to beat,” Griekspoor said.

Consider that Sinner just completed the first season by a man without a straight-set loss since Roger Federer in 2005. And what a way to finish: Sinner won his last 14 matches and his last 26 sets.

Go back a little further, and he's claimed 29 of his past 30 contests, with the only loss in that span coming against the other young player at the top of men's tennis, four-time major champion Carlos Alcaraz, who is 21.

“He just proved,” Berrettini said about Sinner, “that he’s the best in the world.”

Still, no discussion of Sinner’s 2024 should ignore what went on away from the court: In August, shortly before the U.S. Open began, he was exonerated after twice testing positive for a trace amount of an anabolic steroid in March.

The World Anti-Doping Agency's appeal of that ruling is still pending — and could remain that way throughout the upcoming offseason.

“I mean, of course it’s in the head a little bit. I always say, we had three hearings; three hearings which came out in a positive way. So hopefully also the next one (will),” Sinner said, adding that he is not concerned about the case.

“For me, the most important part is that all the people who are around me, and know me as a human being, trust me, no? That’s also the reason I kept playing the level I had," he said. "Of course, I had some ups and downs, and whoever knows me, (knows) I was emotionally a bit down and a bit also heartbroken. But sometimes life gives you difficulties and you just have to stand for it.”

Dutch captain Paul Haarhuis was asked for his take on Sinner's drug case.

“What’s my feeling? I feel that Jannik, in my personal opinion, is an unbelievable nice guy (and) great player,” Haarhuis said, “but we (might) never know what happened.”

There were only two, ever-so-brief moments on court where Sinner showed a hint of vulnerability Sunday.

One came when he was broken by Griekspoor to make it 2-all in the second, which got the Dutch fans roaring. Sinner's response? He won the four remaining games.

The other came as he was trying to serve out the victory from 5-2, 40-love. Three match points. Alas, they disappeared on two forehands into the net and a forehand long.

He reset and, two points later, was able to begin celebrating with his teammates.

“I knew it could be the last point of the year and I could finish an incredible season for me. This (Davis Cup) success means a lot to me, otherwise I wouldn’t have been here,” Sinner said, explaining that he lost a bit of focus. “I’m human. There are always emotions. No one is a machine.”

Berrettini, sitting a few seats away at their post-match news conference, shook his head.

“OK,” the 2021 Wimbledon runner-up said with a smile. “He showed he’s human.”

Italian tennis team members hold the Davis Cup trophy after the final between Netherlands and Italy at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall in Malaga, southern Spain, as Italy wins its second consecutive Davis Cup title, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Italy's Jannik Sinner, center, holds the Davis Cup trophy by teammates after the final between Netherlands and Italy at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall in Malaga, southern Spain, as Italy wins its second consecutive Davis Cup title, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Italy's Jannik Sinner celebrates with team captain Filippo Volandri as he defeats Netherlands' Tallon Griekspoor during the Davis Cup final tennis match between Netherlands and Italy at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall in Malaga, southern Spain, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African writer and poet Breyten Breytenbach, a staunch opponent of the former white-minority government’s apartheid policy of racial oppression, has died in Paris, his family announced on Sunday. He was 85.

Breytenbach was a celebrated wordsmith, a leading voice in literature in Afrikaans — an offshoot of Dutch that was developed by white settlers — and a fierce critic of apartheid that was imposed against the country's Black majority between 1948 and 1990.

He moved to Paris but on a clandestine trip to his home country in 1975 he was arrested on allegations that he assisted Nelson Mandela’s then-outlawed African National Congress group in its sabotage campaign against the white-minority government.

He was convicted of treason and served seven years in prison. Upon his release he based himself in Paris, where he continued his anti-apartheid activism.

Breytenbach is best known for “Confessions of an Albino Terrorist," his account of his imprisonment and the events leading to it.

His work addressed themes of exile, identity and justice, his family said in a statement on Sunday.

“Known for his masterful poetry collections in Afrikaans, as well as autobiographical works such as ‘The True Confessions of an Albino Terrorist’ and ‘A Season in Paradise,' he fearlessly addressed themes of exile, identity and justice," his family said in a statement.

Breytenbach was a poet, novelist, painter and activist whose work touched on and influenced literature and the arts both domestically and abroad, his family added.

He was born in the Western Cape province in 1939, but spent much of his life abroad.

He joined Okhela, an ideological wing of South Africa’s African National Congress, in exile, but remained deeply connected to his South African roots.

He is survived by his wife, Yolande, daughter Daphnée and two grandsons.

FILE - South African writer Breyten Breytenbach, right, and American actor and singer Harry Belafonte shake hands during a press conference in Paris, on June 18, 1986. (AP Photo, File)