Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini lead Italy to the Davis Cup final | ATP Tour

Davis Cup

Sinner and Berrettini lead Italy to the Davis Cup final

The Italians will seek their second consecutive title against the Netherlands

November 23, 2024

Italy will be able to defend its crown in the 2024 Davis Cup.

The current Salad Bowl champion secured her presence in the final one more year, thanks to the performance of Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini, those in charge of closing the two victories with which the Italians beat Australia this Saturday in the semifinals (2- 0).

The No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings once again demonstrated why it is the best racket in the world. This Saturday he added his eighth consecutive win against a Top 10 opponent, after defeating No. 9 Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-4, in one hour and 28 minutes.

Sinner has not lost against a Top 10 – he is 18-5 against a player of this category in 2024 – since the final in Beijing (l. to No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz), while in the Davis Cup there are already eight wins, between singles and doubles, which the 23-year-old Italian accumulates.

Although in the previous tie he had given his country two points against Argentina, beating Sebastián Báez and the doubles with Berrettini against Máximo González and Andrés Molteni, he once again exhibited his most lethal version at the Martín Carpena Pavilion in Málaga .

It was a repeat of the same confrontation that took place in last year’s final, in which Sinner had already won 6-3, 6-0. And this time the champion of eight ATP Tour titles this year extended the Lexus ATP Head2Head against De Minaur to 9-0, three of them in 2024 (Rotterdam, Nitto ATP Finals and the Davis Cup).

The Australian Open and US Open champion began by marking distance on the scoreboard with an initial break (2-0), which the Australian was able to recover immediately. However, with a superb level of intensity, accompanied by 10 winners and 2/3 in break points, he ended up taking the first set 6-3 in 41 minutes.

Sinner limited himself to maintaining his serve and containing his rival, who left everything on the court to try to extend the match. But in the ninth game he took a step forward to find the first break options of the second set. There were three in total until he managed to break De Minaur’s serve (5-4) to end up closing with his serve.

Before Sinner’s exhibition, his compatriot Berrettini showed that when he puts on his country’s shirt he becomes an even more dangerous player. And this week, in addition, he seems to be armored by an exceptional level of confidence.

The former world No. 6 had paved the way in the first match, after beating Thanashi Kokkinakis 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-5 in two hours and 42 minutes.

“Today I put all my heart on the court and played very well. I think that, honestly, I improved things in my game, but the average level right now is very high,” Berrettini confessed.

“I think I have had a very solid year. When I played, I felt good. What I missed a little and felt this year was that I had not played against the best. It takes a little more games to achieve that level and be consistent,” he continued about his performance.

“When I faced them, I always played well, but I felt that there was something missing, which was games. “Today I think I played one of my best games,” the Italian continued his analysis. “I lost the first set, I should have won it. Thanasi played very well.”

The Italian – intractable in this competition – was inspired with his serve for practically the first half hour of the match. Infallible every time he put the ball in play with first serves of 9/9 and 12/13 in total. He came to enjoy 3 set points, but if something has distinguished the Australian it is his fighting ability.

The No. 77 in the PIF ATP Rankings accepted that it was another day of hard work on the court and found a reward. First, returning the break that had allowed Berrettini to serve to win the first set (6-5, 40/30) and, then, escaping from a 4-6 in the tie-break to end up keeping it on his side 8-6 .

Berrettini did not give up the fight either, despite the disappointment of not closing the initial round. He took second, thanks to a break in the eighth game (5-3). And in the third he repeated the same script as at the beginning of the match, with his third break (3/10) to make it 6-5 that would be final, to certify the victory with his service.

This Sunday, Italy chases its second consecutive title against the Netherlands (starting at 4:00 p.m. local time), which is a Davis Cup finalist for the first time in its 104-year history.