Sinner spearheads Italy's Davis Cup win

MALAGA, Spain — Italy went nearly a quarter-century without winning the Davis Cup. Then along came Jannik Sinner, and now the country is celebrating its second consecutive title.

The No 1-ranked Sinner clinched the championship in the annual team event and capped his breakthrough season by beating Tallon Griekspoor 7-6 (2), 6-2 on Sunday for a 2-0 win over the Netherlands in the final of the Davis Cup.

"Coming back as defending champions and winning again — it's one of the best feelings, I think, for all of us," Sinner said. "We are very happy to lift this trophy and, of course, also to go into the preseason with a bunch of confidence boosts."

Matteo Berrettini put Italy ahead with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Botic van de Zandschulp — the last man to beat Rafael Nadal — in the opening singles match on an indoor hard court at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena in southern Spain.

The Italians, backed by a loud contingent of singing fans playing drums and armed with megaphones in the crowd of 9,200, became the first team to win the Davis Cup twice in a row since the Czech Republic in 2012 and 2013.

Italy's women won the Billie Jean King Cup by defeating Slovakia on Wednesday.

"They make us even more proud," Davis Cup captain Filippo Volandri said.

After Sinner finished off his win, Berrettini and other teammates rushed onto the court to begin the party, wrapping their arms around one another and bouncing in unison. Volandri grabbed Sinner and lifted him off the ground.

It was clear who was key to this success. Sinner went 4-0 in Malaga, including a victory in doubles with Berrettini against Argentina in the quarterfinals.

Berrettini played a vital role, too, after replacing Lorenzo Musetti for singles. Berrettini was the runner-up at Wimbledon in 2021, but since then, suffered a series of injuries and illnesses that have limited his playing time. He has spoken about the mental challenges he faced.

"I didn't miss the wins or the losses," Berrettini said. "I missed these moments."

He needed some time to find his groove against the 80th-ranked Van de Zandschulp. But Berrettini took control by grabbing the opening set's last three games, and Sinner left his front-row seat behind Italy's bench to head to the locker room and prepare to close the deal.

He hit 15 aces against the 40th-ranked Griekspoor and stretched his unbeaten streak in tour-level singles competitions to 14 matches and 26 sets, including a title at the ATP Finals a week ago.

Sinner's ascension is one of the year's biggest stories in tennis. He went 73-6 with eight singles titles in 2024, with his first two Grand Slam trophies at the Australian Open and the US Open. The latter came shortly after he was cleared of wrongdoing in a doping case connected to two positive tests for steroids in March; the World Anti-Doping Agency's appeal of that ruling is still pending.

The Netherlands reached the Davis Cup final for the first time.

"We believed we could beat them," Dutch captain Paul Haarhuis said about the Italians.

Until last year, Italy's only Davis Cup triumph came in 1976. So Volandri said he told his players to think of their goal this way: "We want to make history."

Griekspoor, who fell to 0-6 against Sinner, held his own until the firstset tiebreaker, which was preceded by dueling chants. One side repeating: "Italia! Italia!" The other, urging: "Let's go, Tallon! Let's go!"

Sinner was steadier, more ready for the moment, and he built a substantial lead before ending it with an ace.

From 2-all in the second set, Sinner wouldn't drop another game. Soon, he was joining Berrettini, Volandri, Musetti and the rest of the squad in raising the silverware that once again belongs to them.

Agencies via Xinhua