The first match of the 2023 Davis Cup Finals final was played, and Matteo Arnaldi delivered for Italy, giving Jannik Sinner a championship point after beating Alexei Popyrin.
If Jannik Sinner beats Alex de Minaur, Italy will win the 2023 Davis Cup, which would be a huge achievement for the country, which wasn't considered a tennis powerhouse until a few years ago.
With the rise of Sinner, Matteo Berrettini, and other talents from the country, Italy was expected to win one of these years, and it might happen later today.
A good chunk of that is thanks to Matteo Arnaldi, who delivered a huge point for Italy. Australia has a pretty strong doubles pairing with Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell, so winning the singles was always their best chance to get it done.
Thanks to Arnaldi's win, Sinner has the trophy on his racquet. He's 5-0 all-time against de Minaur, so yeah. It wasn't an easy win for Arnaldi, as he had to battle for almost three hours to get it done.
He has a pretty aggressive baseline game that can do a lot of damage in the right conditions. Popyrin is a tricky player with a big serve, but Arnaldi found solutions early.
He took a break midway through the first; he lost it a few games later but broke again late in the set to win it. The second one was a very erratic one from the Italian. After dropping his serve early, he was all over the place and never quite recovered as Popyrin won the set 6-2. The final one was a pretty close battle.
Both players had multiple chances; however, it was the Italian who got it done in the end. He finished with 45 winners and 40 unforced errors, surviving a 59-winner performance from Popyrin.
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