Davis Cup: Arnaldi wins too, Italy beats Brazil

Italy’s success over Brazil in the first match of the 2024 Davis Cup Finals, underway in Bologna. After Berrettini’s victory over Fonseca, Matteo Arnaldi took the decisive point 2-0 by beating Thiago Monteiro in three sets (7-5, 6-7, 7-6) after a marathon lasting 3 hours and 39 minutes. The doubles will follow, with Andrea Vavassori and Simone Bolelli on the court.

Italy began the defense of the title by defeating Brazil in the second day of Group A of the Davis Cup Finals, which will be played until Sunday at the Unipol Arena in Bologna. Matteo Berrettini’s relatively easy victory over Joao Fonseca was followed by Matteo Arnaldi’s hard-fought victory over Thiago Monteiro. The two necessary and sufficient points were thus obtained.
In the first singles, between the number twos of their respective teams, Berrettini beat the young Fonseca in two sets (6-1, 7-6), nicknamed by the Brazilians “the little Sinner”. The Roman, injured last year and therefore in Malaga only as a spectator/fan of the Italian triumph over Australia that had brought the silver salad bowl back to Italy after 47 years, returned to the tournament in the best possible way, beating the number 185 in the ranking, in an hour and 21 minutes, in his absolute debut in the Cup.

“I missed this atmosphere, the warmth of the crowd. I had to enjoy it, have fun, be here, I wanted to take the warmth of the people and do my best: that’s what I did.” So Berrettini, now number 43 in the world, then gave vent to his joy, in a 2024 that has already brought him three titles on the major circuit, in Marrakech, Gstaad and Kitzbuhel.
The first set went smoothly for the Italian, as the score shows, against an opponent who was just 18 years old, evidently struggling with the excitement of the first time. It was a completely different story in the second, when Fonseca gave Berrettini a hard time, finding himself three points away from winning the tie-break: “I didn’t know what to expect, we’ve never even trained together with Joao, but I’ve seen some of his videos and I have to say he’s really good. At his age I didn’t even have an ATP point – commented the former number 6 in the ranking – I felt a bit more pressure because losing against such a young guy, and on top of that at home, wouldn’t have been easy to explain, but I didn’t think about it once I got on the court. I just thought about giving my best and that’s what I managed to do”.

Arnaldi’s match against Monteiro, the only Top 100 player (n.76) called up by Brazilian captain Jaime Oncins, turned out to be a troubled marathon for the Italian. The Sanremo native got the better of the 30-year-old left-hander from Fortalesa in three very tiring sets, with a score of 7-5, 6-7(4), 7-6(5). The Italian was ahead 5-2 in the second set, but closed only at the end of a battle that lasted three hours and 39 minutes, putting the resistance of not only his teammates on the bench to the test, but also that of the now 91-year-old Nicola Pietrangeli in the stands.
“He played very well today, at one point much better than me. But I’m happy with how I managed to stay in the match. This is the Davis Cup, a tournament that excites me – Arnaldi commented immediately – I lacked a bit of drive on the bounce and then I didn’t expect him to serve so well. But the important thing was to win and I’m proud to have done it”. Arnaldi also reassured about a slight sprained ankle, suffered at the end. Then he thanked the fans. “Now we need you, stay because we want to win 3-0”, referring to the next match, with Andrea Vavassori and Simone Bolelli on the court. Arnaldi alternated moments of brilliance with others in which he seemed to lack a bit of resourcefulness, while Monteiro didn’t let himself be discouraged by the first set lost and instead found courage during the match, especially thanks to a very high percentage of first serves (75%), and an effective forehand. But everything was decided in the second tie-break. And Italy can start the defense of the Davis title with a victory.