Matteo Berrettini and Jannik Sinner kept alive Italy’s hopes of defending its Davis Cup title on Thursday, when they sealed the Final 8 tie against Argentina with a deciding doubles victory.
The Italians dropped the opening singles match, but fittingly, it was the No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings who was heroic, beginning with a 6-2, 6-1 win against Sebastian Baez. Sinner returned to court, teaming Berrettini to down Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni 6-4, 7-5.
Next stop 🔜 semi-finals 🇮🇹
Sinner/Berrettini seal the deal for Italy 🙌@DavisCup | #DavisCup | @federtennis
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Berrettini and Sinner won 90 per cent of their first-serve points and fended off all five break points they faced. They earned a key break at 5-5 in the second set, creating a buzz amongst Italian fans in Malaga as the fan favourites closed in on victory. Italy will next face Australia in the Davis Cup semi-finals, a rematch of last year’s championship.
The 23-year-old Sinner arrived in Spain fresh off claiming the Nitto ATP Finals trophy and has carried his momentum forward. In his singles rubber against Baez, Sinner did not face a break point until 4-0 in the second set, erasing all four of the Argentine's chances that game to maintain a double-break lead.
"It was a must-win match," said Sinner, who holds a 71-6 season record and has won 27 of his past 28 matches. "Very different conditions. The court is very, very fast and tough to play. I haven't had so much time to adapt to the conditions, but I'm happy about today."
[ATP AWARDS]Earlier, Argentine Francisco Cerundolo downed Olympic bronze medalist Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-1 in the opening rubber. Cerundolo seamlessly transitioned from defence to offence and pinned Musetti deep beyond the baseline en route to a 90-minute victory.
“I played one of the best matches of the year for sure,” said Cerundolo.
The 26-year-old, who beat Musetti in the Umag final earlier this year, converted six of his 13 break point chances, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
Did You Know?
In 2023, Sinner clinched Italy's first Davis Cup title since 1976 with a victory against Australia's Alex de Minaur. Sinner, an 18-time tour-level titlist, saved three match points against Novak Djokovic to send Italy to the championship round.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]