Italy’s tennis professionals completed the coup and won the Davis Cup for only the second time in history. In the final on Sunday in Malaga, Jannik Sinner, fourth in the world rankings, prevailed against Australia, and the duel was already decided after the two singles.
First, Matteo Arnaldi won against Alexei Popyrin 7:5, 2:6, 6:4 and then spoke of “one of the most important matches of my career”. The victory gave Sinner the chance to win the title, which Italy’s top player took advantage of with a 6:3, 6:0 against Alex de Minaur.
For Italy, which eliminated world number one Novak Djokovic’s Serbia (2-1) in the semifinals on Saturday, it was the first Davis Cup final in a quarter of a century. The only title win until Sunday came in 1976.
Australia has a completely different history in the Davis Cup, de Minaur and Co. missed the chance to win their 29th title. The tennis nation, serial winner in the 50s and 60s, has been waiting for triumph since 2003. In the semi-finals, Australia beat Finland (2-0).
Germany missed the final tournament for the best eight teams. In the relegation, the team in Bosnia-Herzegovina at least avoided relegation from the world group, and the fight for a place in the group phase of the 2024 Davis Cup will now go away against Hungary at the beginning of February. This was the result of the draw for the qualifying round on Sunday.