Jannik Sinner sent Italy into yet another Davis Cup final, this time by beating Alex de Minaur in his singles match in the tie against Australia.
Against Argentina in the quarter-finals, Sinner had to play two matches. First, he won his singles match against Sebastian Baez before suiting up also for the doubles match alongside Matteo Berrettini.
He won both of those matches, sending Italy to the semi-finals. Taking on Australia, the World No. 1's job was a bit easier. Berrettini won the first singles match, meaning that Sinner's win would send Italy to the final of the competition.
His opponent was Alex de Minaur, who he bested in his first round-robin match at the ATP Finals only a couple of weeks ago. Now they met again, and the Australian's chances weren't very high.
Sinner showed why he's the best player in the world already at the start of the match, breaking his opponent's serve to lead 2-0. Surprisingly, he lost it immediately as De Minaur was able to level the score at 2-2.
But Sinner kept pushing and worked his way to yet another break point, heavily supported by the crowd and his team. He converted again, leading already 4-2 in the opening set.
This time, he didn't lose the one-break advantage, and after holding his serve two more times, the Italian player won the first set of the match against De Minaur 6-3.
The Australian player certainly wanted to mount a comeback in the second set, but all he could do was hold his serve, without troubling his opponent on the return.
On top of that, he couldn't do that for the whole duration of the set, as Sinner broke again to lead 5-4, holding his serve to win the match 6-3, 6-4 and secure Italy's spot in the final of the competition.
Their final opponents will be the Netherlands, and following his win over De Minaur, Sinner spoke about how challenging it is to represent his country on the biggest stage.
"There’s a lot of pressure. It’s a bit different because you have this good weight of the whole country on your shoulders. This is exactly what I practice for. These are moments I like to play in. It’s been a long season."
"At the end, it’s gonna be the last official day for us. We’re very happy it’s the final of the Davis Cup. I’ll try to do my best and keep it together. If we win it’s amazing.. if not, we’ve done an incredible job to be in this position and play for a huge trophy."
After doubles win with Berrettini on Thursday, Sinner praised his compatriot, and he was happy about his contribution also this time, as it meant he didn't have to play the doubles again.
"It means a lot. It was a tough encounter playing Alex. We know each other well. I have to be careful every time. I was looking forward to this one. It helped that Matteo won the singles today."
"He played amazing tennis. Hopefully, this gives us confidence for tomorrow. It’s gonna be a difficult and tough day for us, but also for the Netherlands. We’ll just try to do our best and see what’s coming."
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