To hell and back for Italy in the Davis Cup, which after the great fear of the defeat on its debut against Canada finds itself qualified for the Finals at the end of November in Malaga, with the chance to aim for success. The turning point in the fluctuating week of matches in Bologna, which began amid tensions and controversies due to the more or less forced defections and the choices of captain Volandri, was given by Matteo Arnaldi, the debutant who, not surprisingly, today obtained the decisive point for the mathematical qualification to the decisive phase of the tournament, beating Leo Borg in the first of the singles matches against Sweden. In the second singles, Lorenzo Sonego then defeated Elias Ymer with a double 6-4. The Azzurri thus finish in second place in group A, won with full points by Canada, and on Tuesday from the draw they will know whether they will face the Netherlands or one of GB or Australia in Malaga. The 3-0 victory achieved with difficulty over Chile last Friday has completely changed the prospects of Italy, who on the brink of the abyss found the backbone with Arnaldi. The 22-year-old from Sanremo, number 47 atp, showed character and determination when, after losing the first set against the expert Garin, he reversed the situation by winning the next two. Arnaldi set an example for Sonego, who in turn cameback to beat Jarry and get the 2-0 which put Italy back on track. Last night, the good news of Canada’s 2-1 success over the South Americans took a lot of pressure off the Italian team, which today needed just one point against Sweden to qualify for the Finals. An opportunity to be seized already in the first singles, the one between the number two of the respective teams, the Sanremo player and the son of the great Bjorn Borg, n.334 in the ranking.
The blue did not feel the weight of the commitment and won 6-4, 6-3, in just over 80 minutes of play, always accompanied by the public, who underlined every point won with roars and drum rolls . Arnaldi’s score was good with five aces against two double faults, 58% of firsts on the court with which he obtained 79% of the points and 98% of second ons, only one break suffered (in the third game of the first set) . Also on the scoresheet were ten winners against 18 unforced errors. “It was a good week, a great experience, I’m happy to have brought the point to the team today – commented the Ligurian -. It wasn’t easy to make my debut on Friday, it was really hard for everyone but I’m happy. I arrived late here, I also needed time to adapt to the surface and it showed in the first set with Garin: I wasn’t present to myself, I wasn’t making the plays I wanted,” explained Arnaldi. “Playing for the national team, in the Davis Cup, is exciting more than I expected, I like it because it gives me additional energy and I believe I can make a difference. There is certainly a different atmosphere, especially at home like here in Bologna, everyone is rooting for you and this counts for a lot.” In Malaga this contribution will be somewhat lacking, but given that Spain did not qualify, none of the top eight will have an advantage from home advantage. And Italy will then be able to field Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini.
Read the full article on ANSA.it
2023-09-18 07:34:00
#Davis #Cup #Arnaldi #beats #Borg #Italy #flies #finals #ANSA #Agency
