Sinner Propels Italy to Davis Cup Semi-Finals

Jannik Sinner, who has accumulated 70 ATP Tour victories and eight titles in 2024, motivated the defending champions Italy to achieve a comeback win against Argentina, securing their spot in a Davis Cup semi-final match against Australia. The world number one, Sinner, maintained Italy’s chances following Lorenzo Musetti’s defeat by Francisco Cerundolo, by delivering a dominant straight-set victory against Sebastian Baez. Subsequently, the 23-year-old then partnered Matteo Berrettini, achieving a 6-4 7-5 victory against Andres Molteni and Maximo Gonzalez in the pivotal doubles match, thereby completing Italy’s recovery in Malaga. Italy is set to compete against Australia for a position in Sunday’s final, in a rematch of last year’s championship decider, after Australia defeated the United States 2-1 earlier on Thursday. Italy aims to become only the sixth nation to successfully defend the Davis Cup since the tournament’s final stage was established 52 years ago, and the first to do so since the Czech Republic in 2013. On Wednesday, Germany defeated Canada, confirming their semi-final match against the Netherlands on Friday. The Netherlands had previously eliminated Spain in what marked the final tournament of Rafael Nadal’s career. In his pursuit of concluding an exceptional individual season by aiding Italy in retaining the Davis Cup, Sinner achieved a straightforward victory by breaking Baez’s serve twice in each set. The currently in-form Sinner secured the ATP Finals title on Sunday, concluding a year during which he also claimed the initial two Grand Slam titles of his career. Nevertheless, he has also been involved in a continuing doping controversy. World number 30 Cerundolo delivered a remarkable performance, providing Argentina with an ideal start by finalizing a 6-4 6-1 victory against 17th-ranked Musetti. This was achieved by winning 12 of the last 15 games after an initial break against him. However, Sinner, who had only arrived in Spain on Tuesday, two days after his triumph in Turin, returned to the court after his singles win to team up with the impressive Berrettini, thereby keeping Italy’s aspirations for consecutive titles alive. While the established duo of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori were initially chosen for Italy’s doubles match, Italy captain Filippo Volandri’s choice to field two of his prominent players proved successful. “The court is very fast and I haven’t had much time to adapt, but the most important thing was to keep Italy alive,” Sinner stated. Commenting on Sinner’s contribution, Volandri remarked: “He never practised on this court since he arrived. Within three minutes [of his singles match] he was perfectly comfortable. “He is a special one.” In a contest between the two nations with the most victories in the tournament’s history—the USA with 32 wins and Australia with 28—American world number four Taylor Fritz overcame Alex de Minaur. This followed Ben Shelton’s loss to Thanasi Kokkinakis, which necessitated a deciding match. However, Matthew Ebden and Jordan Thompson secured Australia’s progression to the semi-finals, the nation having been runners-up in the previous two editions, with a straight-set victory against Shelton and Tommy Paul. During an exciting initial match in Malaga, Kokkinakis saved four match points to narrowly win a 30-point third-set tie-break against Shelton, giving Australia the lead with a 6-1 4-6 7-6 (16-14) victory that lasted two hours and 17 minutes. Fritz, who had ascended into the world’s top four after placing second to Sinner at the ATP Finals last week, responded by achieving a decisive 6-3 6-4 win against the ninth-ranked De Minaur, thereby compelling a deciding match. Nevertheless, Ebden and Thompson demonstrated superior strength against Paul and Shelton in the doubles encounter, completing an effective 6-4 6-4 victory with a service break in each set. This result propelled 28-time champions Australia into their third consecutive Davis Cup semi-final. The pair celebrated with a chest bump before embracing their team captain, Lleyton Hewitt, who is a winner of two Grand Slam singles titles. Hewitt, who was a member of Australia’s last victorious Davis Cup team in 2003, commented: “We’ve got a rich history in this competition. These boys know it’s a great honour every time you get the chance to wear the green and gold out here.” He added, “We’ve had a group of six guys that have really put their hands up the last three or four years now. They’ve gelled together well and I’m just super proud of the whole team as a collective.”