Aurélien Canot, Media365, published on Friday November 22, 2024 at 9:40 p.m.
Impressive on Thursday during the decisive doubles between Italy and Argentina in Malaga, Matteo Berrettini could be preferred to Lorenzo Musetti to play one of the two singles on Saturday during the semi-final against Australia. The Italians' training this Friday seems to be moving strongly in this direction.
Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini to lead Italy's destiny against Australia on Saturday in Malaga in the second semi-final of this 119th edition of the Davis Cup? During the last match of the Italians, Thursday against Argentina, Berrettini did not have his chance during the first single, which gave rise to a demonstration by the Argentinian Francesco Cerundolo against Lorenzo Musetti, preferred to the former number 6 in the world to get the ball rolling. A setback for which Musetti could pay the price, while Berrettini could take advantage of the slap received by his compatriot and teammate against Cerundolo to rediscover the taste of a single in the competition. If he plays one of the two singles, Saturday against the Australians in the remake of the last final won without trembling (2-0) by the Squadra Azzurra, the Wimbledon finalist in 2021 will also be able to welcome the good news as a reward of his performance alongside Jannik Sinner during the decisive doubles won in two sets by the Italians at the expense of an Argentine pair totally overwhelmed by the opposing firepower. Berrettini not only produced a sumptuous performance in this meeting which could have been synonymous with elimination for the title holders but he also achieved the feat of raising the cursor higher than a sparkling Sinner.
Berrettini trained with Sinner
The facial expressions of the world number 1 during this part also spoke volumes about the impression left by the man who had left the Masters 1000 in Paris at the end of last month after his defeat against… the Australian Popyrin. A very high-ranking performance from a Berrettini who we haven't seen at this level for a while which could therefore encourage Italian captain Filippo Volandri to trust him for the singles this time, Saturday against the Lleyton Hewitt players. On Friday, the 28-year-old, now 35th in the rankings, trained extensively against Sinner. A session marked by a power outage which plunged the two players into darkness for five minutes. To pass the time, the two Transalpines exchanged… snowshoes. On Saturday, they should probably use it to face Alex De Minaur (Sinner) and Thanasi Kokkinakis respectively. And if the qualification is decided again on a decisive double, Italy knows that it has a hell of a duo.
