Australia Defeats United States to Reach Davis Cup Semifinals
Italy vs. Argentina Will be Featured on Thursday
Malaga, Spain—Thursday’s action at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, Spain featured Team Australia defeating the United States 2-1.
After an epic first match which saw Thanasi Kokkinakis defeat Ben Shelton 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(14), inform Taylor Fritz returned in the second match to even the tie by defeating Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-4.
Hitting 39 aces in total, Kokkinakis and Shelton enthralled the crowd at the Palacio Deportes Martín Carpena during the two hour and 15 minute affair.
Never facing each other on Tour, Kokkinakis showed that his experience and big forehand ultimately made the difference in the victory.
Fritz in Form
The day’s second match was a battle between two recent ATP Finals competitors. Fritz showed why he is the No. 4 player in the world by easily dispatching de Mianur in straight sets. Firing 10 aces, winning 79 percent of his first serve points and breaking serve on three occasions, Fritz tied his head-to-head with de Mianur at five wins each.
The Aussie team of Jordan Thompson and Matthew Ebden sealed their passage into the final four after they ousted Tommy Paul and Shelton 6-4, 6-4.
Australia will now await the winner of the day’s second tie between Italy and Argentina.
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner will lead a stacked Italian team, featuring Lorenzo Musetti, Matteo Berrettini, Andrea Vavassori and Simone Bolelli.
Team Argentina will be highlighted by Sebastian Baez, Francisco Cerundolo, Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni.
Friday’s Semifinals: Netherlands vs. Germany
Friday’s semifinals in Malaga will feature the Netherlands taking on Germany. The Dutch team reached the semifinals after upsetting Team Spain on Tuesday. Botic Van de Zandschulp ended Rafael Nadal‘s career in straight sets, before teaming up with Wesley Koolhof to oust Carlos Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers.
Team Germany needed only two singles wins to advance to the final four, having Daniel Altmaier defeat Gabriel Diallo and Jan-Lennard Struff edge past Denis Shapovalov in a third set tiebreaker.
The Davis Cup Finals will conclude in Malaga on Sunday.
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