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Italy, which has won the past two editions, was already without Jannik Sinner after the world No.2 decided not to take part, preferring to prioritise preparations for his Australian Open title defence in January.

Musetti made his debut at the season-ending championships in Turin this week as a late replacement after the withdrawal of Novak Djokovic, having missed out on automatic qualification after defeat to the Serbian in Athens.

The Italian, unlike the other seven players involved in the ATP Finals, had no time to prepare at 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 its two recent wins, and his place is expected to be taken by Lorenzo Sonego who has been in Turin practising 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 No.1.

Alcaraz said Davis Cup was special because.

"It's totally different. I think it's one of the most privileged things you can do in our sport, representing your country," he said.

"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."

But Alcaraz had sympathy for Sinner and Musetti's decisions to skip the Davis Cup.

"[It is] normal for them because the season has been so long," he said.