The golden age of blue Tennis. Not just Jannik Sinner: with a rediscovered Berrettini, Italy takes the 2024 Davis Cup in Malaga by force, repeating the success of 12 months ago, and thus crowns a formidable year, made up of the victory of the Italians in the Billie Jean King Cup , of the two Slams and the Sinner Masters Finals, of the Paris Olympic medals. The double point in Davis came, as expected, from the world number 1, who beat the Dutch Griekspoor for the ninth time out of ten in a match that was closer than expected, but in the end slipped to the side of the team due to inertia. stronger. “I wanted to be here – the satisfaction of an exhausted Sinner, who arrived in Malaga just 48 hours after triumphing in Turin as ‘Maestro’ – It’s the most beautiful way to end the season”.
At the final in Malaga to award the ‘salad bowl’, on the other hand, Volandri’s national team had appeared as favourites, against the Netherlands in its first ever match. And the captain confirmed his choices for the semi-final against Australia, fielding Matteo Berrettini in the first singles against Van de Zandschulp: the plus of this evening in Malaga was the Roman tennis player himself, who has been lost in recent years on the road to injuries and returned as a winning ‘hammer’, for his service and for his mental stability. A year ago he was in the stands cheering for his teammates, without thinking about his physical problems, this time he played, won and at the end burst into tears in the arms of captain Volandri. The evening which began with the Mameli anthem and the Dutch one therefore ended only with the former, and all the Azzurri raising the Davis among the confetti, before the photo around an Angelo Binaghi with an endless smile. “Our anthem is now the soundtrack of world tennis”, exults the president of Coni, Giovanni Malagò, and thoughts turn to the smile of Jasmine Paolini, the strength of Tathiana Garbin, the potential of Lorenzo Musetti. “Thank you champions”, tweets Prime Minister Meloni.
The winning point came from a dominant Sinner, despite the effort: 7-6 6-2 the score against Griekspoor, who throughout the first set engaged him with a fast serve, precise passing, great groundstrokes and few errors. So no break, except for the first Dutch serve of the tie: at 2-1, the opponent’s certainty crumbled and Sinner took flight on the wave of 7-6: he immediately broke at 1-1 second set but then due to too many errors (tiredness taking away concentration) the immediate counterbreak. At 2-2, the blue player took back the serve of the talented Dutchman, broke again and at 5-2 he had three match points, all wasted. The advantage from the draw offered the last chance, for the 6-2 which started the party. Even more impressive was the victory that preceded it, that of Berrettini: 15 aces, winning shots, the mental stability of a great player. “This Cup weighs, in every sense – his words from the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena – To whom do I dedicate it? To my family and to myself who have never given up”. “It’s incredible, I found some splendid solutions on the court, the most important thing is that I managed to arrive intact, I missed these moments. My level of tennis has always been there but it’s not easy to play at your best when you’re absent at long, the goal was to feel better after each match and I achieved it.” On the eve of Malaga, Berrettini had assured his total availability to Volandri, for the single, double or even just the role of fan leader, as he always was in Andalusia in 2023: and in the end he covered all three, surprising also for the doubles understanding with Sinner. “He is an example to me”, the Roman’s words about the South Tyrolean. Who on the other hand has always supported his blue teammate, encouraging him from the sidelines for every mistake, and rejoicing at every point. Now Berrettini, having returned to the top 40, has the chance to present himself at the start of the new year as the top seed of the AusOpen. “For me it was a good 2024, with some difficulties – says the leader of Italian tennis, Sinner, whose thoughts are perhaps still on the Tas proceeding for doping that is still open – I could have done some things better, now let’s look at 2025” .
For the golden age to never end.
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