Sinner, the flag bearer of the Italian team. X@DavisCup
Italia, with Jannik Sinner as shown, won 2 to 0 Australia in the final of the Davis cup in Malaga, Spain, and thus achieved his second Salad Bowl after 47 years.
Matteo Arnaldi, number 34 in the world, and Sinner, number 4 in the ATP ranking, got the two points for the team led by Filippo Volandri, in what was the eighth final for the Italian team, in the final held at the Palace of the Sports José María Martín Carpena from Málaga.
So, Sinner, Arnaldi, Lorenzo Musetti and Simone Bolelli noted his name in the history of the most important team competition in the world of tennis.
After leaving Serbia in the semi-finals, one of the great candidates, especially due to the presence of the world number 1, Novak Djokovic, Italy arrived as a favorite for the grand final of the 2023 edition. However, on the other side He had a team that knows what it is to play in finals (49 in total) and that was in search of its 29th cup.
But he could do little against an Italy that came out determined to finish the series with only the singles points. First it was Arnaldi’s turn, who beat Alexei Popyrin 7-5, 2-6 and 6-4 (40), in 2 hours and 29 minutes.
In a highly contested first set, in which both men broke serves, Arnaldi finally achieved the final break in the 12th game to close the first set 7-5.
Supported by his powerful serve, Popyrin became strong in the second set and got two breaks in his rival’s first two serves to quickly take a 3-0 lead. And from there, without any problems, he sealed the set with a resounding 6-2. The Australian finished the set with 6 of the 12 aces he hit in the entire match.
But when it seemed that Popyrin was beginning to move towards victory, he encountered a feisty Arnaldi, who saved the eight break points that his rival had in his favor.
On the other hand, the Italian, who had also had a break chance with the match at 4-3 but could not take advantage of it, did not forgive him in the second and made it 6-4 final and the first point for Italy.
And it was time to Sinner, the great hero in the series against Serbia, who had just struck the blow with his victory against Novak Djokovic in singles and doubles. And on top of that, the Italian also arrived with the statistics in his favor, because he had faced Álex de Miñaur (12), the best Australian racket, on five occasions and had beaten him all.
And indeed, Sinner did not fail. With the same forcefulness that he showed yesterday and throughout the season, He did not give the world number 12 a chance and won by a crushing score of 6-3, 6-0. to give the final point to Italy and the long-awaited Davis Cup.
A finishing touch for Sinner, who had been left with the thorn of the fall against Djokovic in the final of the ATP Finals, but who closes his best season with the conquests in the Masters 1000 in Toronto, the ATP 500 in Beijing and Vienna, and the ATP 250 in Montpellier.
This was the second Salad Bowl for Italy, which had already celebrated in 1976 against Chile. In addition, she had played, without success, in the finals of 1960, 1961, 1977, 1979, 1980 and 1998.
2023-11-26 21:07:00
#Italy #Davis #Cup #champion #time #history
