It will be a rematch of the 2023 Davis Cup championship tie when Italy and Australia meet again in Malaga, this time in the semifinals. Jannik Sinner, Matteo Berrettini, Alex de Minaur, and Thanasi Kokkinakis are the expected singles players.
Jannik Sinner (ITA) vs. Alex de Minaur (AUS)
Sinner vs. De Minaur is bad news for fans who like watching entertaining and competitive tennis. But it’s even worse news for De Minaur. What is currently the most lopsided “rivalry” in all of tennis will add another chapter when Sinner and De Minaur go head-to-head once again in the Davis Cup semifinal tie between Italy and Australia on Saturday in Malaga, Spain. The Italian is 8-0 lifetime, including 18-1 in total sets at De Minaur’s expense. Sinner has taken 12 consecutive sets in the matchup without even being pushed to a tiebreaker, and he just eased past the Aussie 6-3, 6-4 the Nitto ATP Finals.
Sinner went on to triumph in Turin with an undefeated record; in fact, he did not drop a set the entire week. The world No. 1 is 25-1 in his last 26 matches dating back to the Cincinnati Masters after destroying Sebastian Baez 6-2, 6-1 in a quarterfinal victory over Argentine on Thursday. De Minaur went 0-3 in Turin and then got smoked by Taylor Fritz of the United States 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday before the Australians recovered in doubles. Nothing suggests that this will be anything other than another straight-set beatdown in Sinner’s favor.
Pick: Sinner in 2
Matteo Berrettini (ITA) vs. Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS)
This could end up being Lorenzo Musetti vs. Alexei Popyrin, but the smart money is on Berrettini vs. Kokkinakis. Italy went with Musetti in its No. 2 singles spot on Thursday, but the Paris Olympics bronze medalist flamed out to Francisco Cerundolo 6-4, 6-1. Berrettini picked up the slack in doubles, and based on those two performances you have to think captain Filippo Volandri give Berrettini the singles call on Saturday. Meanwhile, Aussie captain Lleyton Hewitt chose Kokkinakis over Popyrin and the 28-year-old came up big in dramatic fashion–saving four match points and converting his seventh to beat Ben Shelton 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(14).
This would be the first-ever encounter between these two injury-plagued stars. Although Berrettini has not done much this fall, he boasts a 30-12 record for the season and his huge serve and forehand make him extremely dangerous on an indoor hard court. He has won 34 matches all time on this surface; Kokkinakis is 11-12 lifetime on it. The edge goes to Berrettini.
Pick: Berrettini in 2
WWW?
Sinner in 2; Koki in a tough 3.
AUS sends USA packing.
Is the Davis Cup the worst run tennis event of all time? It’s difficult to find scores, match schedules, no live scores via Google etc. Everything about it seems to be contrary to the rest of tour, almost like it’s some exclusive secret event.
I just read it was only recognised and integrated into the ATP calendar last year but still, it should better represented than it is.
It’s like the ATP has reluctantly added it to its calendar, maybe because they don’t want it overshadowing their other events, like the ATP Finals.
They want the ATP Finals to be the pinnacle end-of-season event. So, it’s simply for historical relevance that they’ve included it. It’s part of the tour, but not really.
The tour has changed, so it’s no longer as relevant as it used to be. You can only fit so many events into a year. Making it best-of-five sets and best-of-five matches would be crazy. In the 70s and 80s, players didn’t play as much, and the sport was less demanding. Back then, Davis Cup was the pinnacle event outside the majors.
If all the countries can’t bring their best players and the winners wouldn’t usually win in a truly competitive event, what’s the point?
Davis Cup without the traditional format isn’t Davis Cup. Even the ATP Cup before the Australian Open is a bad idea.
Time to get more creative.