Where is the victory? Request the anthem of Italy. In Malaga, Matteo Berrettini responds first and Jannik Sinner later. Their victories against Kokkinakis (6-7, 6-3, 7-5) and De Miñaur (6-3, 6-4) respectively confirm the arrival of the Italian team for the second consecutive year in the Davis Cup final. Inhospitable territory during the previous 25.
Feeling at home is good old Berrettini, who has the boost of much of a blue-tinted stand. The Italian is reborn in this Davis. He has regained his spark and shines again with vigor on the demanding Carpena track. Matteo deciphers it well, thus emerging from the void in which he found himself physically and emotionally.
Injuries have affected his tennis since the pandemic. He beat the coronavirus, also suffered an oblique injury and underwent surgery to fix his wrist problem. He lets loose in Malaga. A cannon on the serve and forehand which allows him to secure his serve. Suffer in the other direction. Kokkinakis knows this and he intends to exploit this weakness by directing the game towards this sector.
Berrettini defended himself by managing to break Kokkinakis and ward off the stress, the intensity of which increased with the arrival of the tie-break. Two balls return to the Australian, which he recovers from a partial series of four points in a row to swing the first set to his side. The Italian did not capsize, finding his best ally in the wire.
He increases his points won after the first and second serves and the oceanic goes into a tailspin. His winners are already pushing Berrittini to the back of the track. The second set is tinged with the Italian style which maintains its solidity on serve in the third to hit with determination while the match was already heading towards a tie-break. It was avoided by Berrittini, who left Sinner with the last shot.
The world number one has entrusted it to a rival, De Minaur, who appears willing on the field. But the newspaper archives fall on him, claiming that he never managed to defeat the Italian. He didn’t manage it in Turin a week ago and he didn’t do it in Malaga either.
