Italia fulfilled the predictions and won the semifinal match of the Davis Cup ante Australia in it José María Martín Cárpena Sports Palace of Málaga. The Europeans did not need the point in the doubles to seal access to the final, in which they will face Netherlandsthanks to the singles triumphs of Matteo Berrettini (number 35 in the world) and Jannik Sinner (1) ante Thanasi Kokkinakis (77) y Alex de Minaur (9), respectively. The confrontation between blues and oranges to define the owner of the Silver Salad will be this Sunday, from 12 noon in Argentina.
In the first turn, Berrettini won the key point of the series, by beating Kokkinakis in 166 minutes of playby 6-7 (6), 6-3 and 7-5. The oceanic player had a glimpse of hitting the mark when he took the opening set of the match in the tie break. But his opponent’s consistency from serve in the next two sets and a drop in intensity paved the way for The Blue took his first step in defending the title.
Sinner, the leader of the world ranking and recent champion of ATP Finalsclosed the task in straight sets against De Miñaur, with a resounding 6-3 and 6-4 that took one hour and 27 minutes on the court. The best tennis player of the moment was consistent in all phases of the game against an opponent who defended each point with soul and life, which was not enough to counteract the repertoire of the born in San Candidonorth of Italia.
The current champions of the competition had reached the semi-finals after beating Argentina last Thursday. That day, the series needed to reach doubles, where Sinner y Berrettini they won 6-4 and 6-4 against Máximo González and Andrés Molteni. In the singles, Francisco Cerúndolo He had knocked on the door of the albiceleste illusion by convincingly beating Lorenzo Musetti, 6-4 and 6-1. Later, Italy remained in the competition with an unappealable victory for the world number one against Sebastián Báez, 6-2 and 6-1.
As to Netherlandsthe Cinderella of the decisive duel, the journey had strong emotions. In their presentation in the quarterfinals, the Dutch kept the key against Spainlast Tuesday, which also decreed the withdrawal of Rafael Nadal as a professional tennis player.
Already on Friday, the oranges faced Germany, which got into the top four by eliminating Canada – Davis Cup champion in 2022 – on Wednesday, decimated by the absence of its best racket: Happy Auger-Also. Those driven by Paul Haarhuis With that 2-0 victory they gained access to the Davis Cup final for the first time and they hope this Sunday, from 12 noon in Argentina, to give the blow against the defenders of the Silver Salad Bowl.
(Join the AAT WhatsApp channel and become a FAN of Argentine Tennis. To access and stay up to date with the news, know the calendars and remember great milestones of the sport, you just have to do click here)
