Sinner Leads Italy into Davis Cup Final Over Australia
Italy will Face Netherlands in Sunday’s Final
Malaga, Spain—Saturday’s semifinal action at the Davis Cup final in Malaga, Spain featured Team Italy reaching the finals over an inspired Australian team.
First up, former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini was made to work against the shot-making game of Thanasi Kokkinakis.
After losing the first set, Berrettini mounted his comeback by using his brilliant serve and powerful forehand to record a 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-5 victory. Berrettini and Kokkinakis had never played on Tour prior to today’s encounter.
Propelling Italy to a 1-0 lead in the day’s matches, world No. 1 Jannik Sinner was up next to take on the foot-work friendly game of Alex de Minaur.
Winning eight titles this year, Sinner showed why is the best player on the planet by producing a 6-3, 6-4 win for his country.
Hitting four aces, winning 81 percent of his first serve points and breaking serve on three occasions, Sinner improved to 9-0 against de Minaur in lifetime meeting, including 3-0 this year. Sinner has only lost one set to de Minaur since their rivalry started in 2019.
Sinner also improved to 72-6 on the year in terms of his win/loss record.
The victory for Italy will put them in prime position to take on the Netherlands on Sunday. The Dutch squad is playing in their first-ever Davis Cup final, while Italy will be aiming to win their third career title at the prestigious competition.
Sunday’s team for the Netherlands will include Tallon Griekspoor, Botic Van de Zandschulp, Jesper De Jong and doubles guru Wesley Koolhof.
Van de Zandschulp had defeated Rafael Nadal on Tuesday and Daniel Altmaier on Friday to aid his country in reaching the championship round.
Nadal, who won 22 Majors throughout his Hall-of-Fame career, retired after losing to van de Zandschulp on Tuesday.
Griekspoor poured in an important victory to send his team into the finals after he dispatched Jan-Lennard Struff from Germany on Friday.
Koolhof, who is currently ranked No. 8 in the world in doubles, will be retiring after this week’s event. Koolhof teamed up with van de Zandschulp on Tuesday to score the deciding doubles victory over Spain with a straight set victory over Carlos Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers.
Sunday’s title match will be last official tennis action for the 2024 season.
Check back for daily updates from TennisConnected.com throughout the year for your up-to-date schedules, reviews, draws and results.
