MALAGA: World number one Jannik Sinner defeated Alex de Minaur in straight sets to power holders Italy into the Davis Cup final with a 2-0 victory over Australia on Saturday.

The two-time winners will face Netherlands in Sunday’s showpiece after the Dutch ousted Germany 2-0 on Friday to make the final for the first time in 104 years of trying.

Sinner, who has never lost against De Minaur in nine matches including last year’s Davis Cup final, triumphed 6-3, 6-4.

In the first singles rubber Matteo Berrettini earned a 6-7 (6/8), 6-3, 7-5 win over Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis in two hours 46 minutes.

“I had one of the best feelings ever last year winning the Davis Cup,” said Sinner. “We’re happy to be back (in the final), it will be a very tough encounter but we will give 100 percent.”

Australia, beaten finalists in each of the last two years, are the second most successful team in the tournament’s history with 28 titles but last won it in 2003.

Australian Open, US Open and ATP Finals winner Sinner is enjoying a superb year and can cap it with another Davis Cup triumph.

Sinner broke early to take a 2-0 lead in the opening set and although De Minaur responded with a break of his own, Sinner’s second break proved decisive.

The second set went with serve for the first eight games as the Australian gave as good as he got, but Sinner finally made the break to lead 5-4 and served out to wrap up the win.

Berrettini was superb in the doubles decider as Italy beat Argentina in the quarter-finals and captain Filippo Volandri rewarded him with selection in the opening clash in place of Lorenzo Musetti.

Kokkinakis emerged triumphant after an epic battle against Ben Shelton as Australia ousted record 32-time winners USA but fell short this time.

Berrettini watched on as Italy won the Davis Cup for the first time in 47 years in 2023, not part of the squad but cheering from the sidelines as he recovered from an ankle injury.

This year he has been able to play an important role in Italy’s charge towards the final.

“Thank you very much for the support, I’m so happy,” said Berrettini. “After I lost the first set it wasn’t easy to digest that, but when I’m fighting for my country with this crowd... I kept on fighting.”

On Friday, singles wins for Netherlands’ Botic Van de Zandschulp and Tallon Griekspoor sparked a party amongst an army of orange-clad Dutch fans inside the Jose Maria Martin Carpena arena.

Van de Zandschulp, the player who ended Spanish great Rafa Nadal’s career on Tuesday, held his nerve to beat Daniel Altmaier 6-4, 6-7 (12/14), 6-3, although he required 10 match points to give his side the edge in the semi-final.

Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff looked like keeping the three-times champions in with a chance of reaching the final for the first time since 1993 as he led by a set and a break of serve against Griekspoor.

But 40th-ranked Griekspoor produced a stunning fightback to win 6-7 (4/7), 7-5, 6-4, capping the decisive win with his 25th ace.

“It’s unbelievable, we have been talking about this for two or three years,” the 28-year-old Griekspoor said on court. “We came here all the time and had unbelievably tough draws, losing to finalists and winners and this year we had Spain in the quarter-finals, but we believed in ourselves so much and we felt like it was possible.”

Published in Dawn, November 24th, 2024