Matteo Berrettini was able to come out on top against an inspired Thanasi Kokkinakis, beating him in three sets at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals.
Berrettini received a challenging task in Italy's second tie at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals. In their first tie, against Argentina, Lorenzo Musetti played the first singles match as Italy's second highest-ranked singles player on the ATP Tour but lost to Francisco Cerundolo.
Jannik Sinner had to come to the rescue in singles, and after that, the World No. 1 player was nominated also for the doubles match. He teamed up with Berrettini to secure the semi-final for Italy.
Berrettini showed his undisputed qualities in that match, and maybe also because of that, he deserved a nomination for the country's first singles match in the semi-final against Australia.
Australia nominated their only seventh highest-ranked player, Thanasi Kokkinakis, but he has proven countless times that he can play on a level much higher than reflected by his ranking.
That was highlighted also by his win against Ben Shelton in the quarter-final tie against the United States. Kokkinakis wanted to add another win, while Berrettini wanted to record his first singles win at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals.
Both are great servers, and with the fast indoor hard court in Malaga, long sets were expected in this match. Still, there were plenty of break points in the opening set, as Berrettini had a total of five break points.
He didn't use three at 3-3 and then another one at 4-4, but finally, he broke at 5-5 to lead 6-5. Serving for the set, the Italian player even had a set point, but he couldn't convert it as his opponent forced a tie-break.
Kokkinakis then fell behind 4-6 in the tie-break despite leading 3-1 early on, facing two more set points. Again, he saved both, and using his only set point, the Australian won the tie-break 8-6.
Berrettini knew that he should have won that opening set, but early in the second set, he faced a possibly match-ending scenario. His opponent had a break point already in the third game, and given Kokkinakis' serving qualities, that could have meant game, set, and match.
The former Wimbledon finalist saved it and patiently kept serving at a very high level. He didn't use another point on his serve for the remainder of the set, and the same could be said about his opponent, except for one game.
In that one game, Kokkinakis had plenty of trouble despite having two game points. He couldn't hold his serve and was broken, with Berrettini winning the second set 6-3 to force the decider.
Berrettini started by having two break points in the opening game of the third set, but Kokkinakis stayed in the match by saving both. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't do the same in the most important moment of the match.
Serving at 5-5 in the third set, Kokkinakis felt the pressure. More experienced Berrettini used it to his advantage, breaking his opponent's serve to eventually win the match 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-5, securing Italy's first point in the semi-final tie against Australia at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals.
Up next, Jannik Sinner will take on Alex de Minaur in the second singles match of the tie. If the Australian stuns the World No. 1, a doubles match will decide.