Sinner, Berrettini send Italy back to Davis Cup final

With victory in a rematch of last year's Davis Cup final against Australia, defending champions Italy are back in the title round thanks to contrasting singles wins for Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini on Saturday in Malaga. The Italians advanced behind a 2-0 semi-final scoreline, with Sinner beating Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-4 after Berrettini edged Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-5.

Berrettini needed two hours, 39 minutes to dispatch Kokkinakis, who won a third-set tie-break against Ben Shelton of the United States in his previous outing. The Aussie struck first after saving two set points from 4/6 in the opening tie-break, having stopped his opponent from serving out the opening set at 6-5. But Berrettini would not surrender another break in the match as he powered Italy into a 1-0 lead.

"After I lost the first set, it wasn't easy to digest that," said the Italian. "But I'm fighting for my country with this crowd, so I'm happy."

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At 5-5 in the third set, Berrettini conjured a forehand squash shot from deep behind the baseline that angled sharply for a stunning winner. The majestic, driven slice left a stunned Kokkinakis stranded and sparked a run of six straight points from 15/0 to put Berrettini on the brink of victory.

"Some points sometimes are just changing the match, the momentum," he said of his moment of magic. "I guess it's coming from years and years of playing on clay, we use a lot of our hands. And maybe a little bit of genetics from my parents — I'm going to give them the credit.

"It's all about the energy, how you face the tough moments. But I got the break and I [was able to] finish."

Matteo Berrettini that is OUT OF THIS WORLD ??#DavisCup | @MattBerrettini | @federtennis pic.twitter.com/zL2iDbtYkG

That set up World No. 1 Jannik Sinner to close out the victory, and the man who earned Year-End ATP No. 1 presented by PIF honours this season delivered with a dominant display against De Minaur. The 6-3, 6-4 scoreline was identical to the result in the pair's Nitto ATP Finals meeting earlier this month. Sinner will now hope he can lift the title in Malaga, just as he did in Turin.

"It means a lot. It was a tough encounter, playing Alex. We know each other quite well now so I have to be very careful every time," Sinner said after improving to 9-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. "It's a very tough challenge for me, so I was looking forward to this one.

"Obviously it helped a lot that Matteo won the singles today. He played amazing tennis, it was very high quality. Hopefully this can give us some confidence for tomorrow. It's going to be a very difficult and tough day for us and also the Netherlands."

Sinner picked up where Berrettini left off by winning the first two games against De Minaur, but the Aussie responded to level the opening set at 2-2. But after converting on his first break point, the Aussie would not create another one in the one-hour, 28-minute match.

Sinner snatched back the advantage to lead 5-2, battling through deuce to consolidate his second break. There were no break points on offer in set two until Sinner carved out three in the ninth game. He made good on the third, then coolly served out the victory to continue Italy's title defence.

The Netherlands also advanced to Sunday's final with a 2-0 win, with the Dutch victory coming via a pair of three-set singles results Friday against Germany. If the lineups for both finalists remain the same, Berrettini will face Botic van de Zandschulp and Sinner will meet Tallon Griekspoor in the final. Italy nominated Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori for the unplayed doubles rubber, while the Germans listed Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz.

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