Davis Cup, Slovakia-Italy 1-1: Sonego yields to Horansky

by our correspondent Riccardo Crivelli

4th March
– Bratislava (Svk)

Italy’s journey to Slovakia for the Davis Cup playoffs is complicated: after the success of Sinner, in fact, comes the unexpected defeat of Sonego, number 21 in the world, against Horansky, number 203, recovered from the last hour in place of home number one Alex Molcan, who tested positive at Covid with the swab carried out in the morning. One of the classic stories from Davis, the carneade that distorts predictions and rankings and beats the strongest. We remain favorites, but once more the double will have a fundamental value, even psychological: it will be the first match of the second day and losing it would mean putting on unimaginable pressure. And the Slovaks can count on a proven couple led by Polasek, number 13 in the world of the specialty, accompanied by the tall Zelenay, who is forty years old. Italy will reply with Bolelli, caliph of the discipline (n.21 in the world) and probably Musetti (Volandri tried them a lot together in training), even if the fresh twenty year old from Carrara could come into play in the last, very delicate singular if we are at 2-2 and Sonego will not have metabolized the defeat, it being understood that Sinner should give us the point against Horansky.

The match

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The Piedmontese’s performance was frankly disappointing, reviving the ghosts of defeat with the unknown Croatian Gojo in the November Finals. Not incisive in the serve, nervous and hasty and in many exchanges also lacking on the legs, Lollo tried to stay in the match with pride, especially in the first set when he immediately recovered the break immediately in the fifth game. Horansky, 28, a brilliant past as a junior with a win at Bonfiglio but then unable to repeat himself upstairs (at most he was number 161), obsessively sought his backhand, the weak point, and in the tie break of the first set he gladly accepted the 4 points given by Sonego on his serve. Lollo reacted, he immediately got the break from the start in the second set, but he made too many mistakes and was not very lucid to keep the advantage, trying in vain to break the rhythm with unlikely descents to the net and from ineffective short balls. In the fifth game of the second set the turning point: the Slovakian gets two break points, Lorenzo cancels them with a winning forehand and a free one from his rival, but on the third he sends along yet another backhand (in the end there will be 45 total free errors, a lot ), handing the game over to Horansky, who will not tremble in his time to serve. And the road is now uphill.

Volandri

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Captain Volandri will have spent the night studying the solution of the Rubik’s cube of the double, where the Slovaks with the super-specialist Polasek and the forty-year-old longagnone Zelenay anticipate the bang: “Davis gives and takes away, and we also know that numbers don’t count, we started favorites but our two opponents played two amazing matches. Luckily Jannik regained energy when he counted. Decisions are not taken quickly, I will talk to everyone and then I will choose who to line up with Bolelli and in the eventual last singles “.