Sinner leads Italy to win its second Davis Cup

Italy, Davis Cup champion 47 years later. From Santiado de Chile to Malaga. Jannik Sinner culminated a magical week with a resounding victory against Alex de Miñaur (6-3 and 6-0) to lead the transalpine country to the second Salad Cup in its history. Matteo Arnaldi did his homework in the first point of the tie against Popyrin (7-5, 2-6 and 6-4) and the one from San Candido finished the job with his fifth victory on the Carpena court.

Jannik Sinner has been the name of the Davis Cup in Malaga 2023. The hero of a country that had not raised the Salad Bowl since 1976. In the quarterfinals, the one from San Cándido won his singles and then went back to the Netherlands with Sonego in the doubles. And in the semifinals, he made history by defeating Djokovic twice in a single afternoon. He first won the singles in an epic way, raising three match points and then he also signed up for the doubles to win, also together with Sonego, the tie. In this Sunday’s final against Australia, He gave the final point to Italy with another recital on the track of Martín Carpena.

Sinner’s resounding victory

The afternoon of tennis at Carpena leveled up with the introduction of Jannik Sinner, number 4, and Alex de Miñaur, number 12 in the ATP ranking. The Australian was obliged to win the man of the week in Malaga to force the doubles.

De Minaur started very strong, reaching all the balls and hitting hard. But Sinner is at a spectacular level right now. He only needed a break point in the third game of the match to put the set ahead. 2-1 and serve for the one from San Cándido. And from there, he didn’t slow down. He dominated the set at will with his forehand, showing the level that he had already offered these days at the Martín Carpena. He only had one complex moment to overcome, but he solved it impeccably to prevent De Minaur from tying the set at 4. Now at 5-3, he broke again to take the first set. Italy was already caressing its second Salad Bowl.

Sinner was in steamroller mode. She knew that he was facing one of the games of his life and she was not going to let him escape. The Italian took out the roller and also materialized the first break option he had in the second set (2-0). He had De Minaur completely desperate, the Australian was not even capable of scoring points where he played practically all his perfect shots.

There was no way to stop Sinner in this match. Each shot was a delight just a foot from the line. A ‘roadrunner’ like De Minaur, usually used to reaching everyone, was not even able to put up a fight. With another break (4-0), the ‘redhead’ left the match, the tie and the Davis Cup ready for judgment. And it didn’t take much longer to close the title for Italy. He finished with a ‘rosco’ in the second set, before joining in a hug with the rest of the team.

Arnaldi won the first point

The Australian coach opted for the first point of the tie by Alexei Popyrinwho already won their semi-final match, while the ‘azzurra’ put to play Matteo Arnaldidefeated in the quarterfinals.

Both started defending their first serve game well, but the breaks didn’t take long to come. Arnaldi struck first to break Popyrin’s serve and go up 3-1 in the opening set. The Australian’s response was immediate, blank counterbreak and start again (3-2).

Arnaldi once again had the opportunity to take the lead again, but Popyrin saved him two break points to make it 4-4 on the scoreboard, with much suffering. History was repeating itself. The Italian had three set points left at 5-4 and 0-40, but his powerful serve kept Popyrin alive in the first set (5-5). The oceanic also now forgave a 15-40, Arnaldi raised his game and the next time he had he no longer failed. Break to take the first set 7-5.

The blow did not affect Popyrin. He came off the bench full of confidence in turning the game around and broke the first time. He secured the break with a comfortable serve game to go up 2-0 at the start of the second set. The game had completely changed. The Australian’s mental reset was complete and he broke his rival’s serve again to leave the second set on track (3-0). He stopped having problems maintaining his serve games and took the second set with overwhelming superiority (6-2).

Matteo Arnaldi started the last set against the ropes, but he was able to recover from 15-40 to save the starting break. The transalpine continued to suffer a lot to get through each game. He again had to save two break points to stay ahead in the set (2-1). There are no two without three. At 3-3, Arnaldi once again took his serve forward, overcoming another 15-40 (4-3). And he saved another one again with 4-4. In total, Popyrin had up to 8 break points to face the clash and he did not take advantage of them. He forgave and paid. Because he then had to serve with 4-5 and against and the pressure got the better of him. And here Arnaldi did smell blood and went for the game. The Australian opened the door and the Italian came in with everything to close the match and give Italy the first point of the tie (7-5, 2-6 and 6-4).

2023-11-26 19:39:03
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