Italy wins the Davis Cup after a 47 year wait

Italy won the Davis Cup for the first time since 1976 as Jannik Sinner crushed Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-0 to seal a 2-0 win over Australia yesterday in Malaga.

The world number four clinched victory in the second singles rubber after Matteo Arnaldi dug deep to beat Alexei Popyrin 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 in the opening clash.

Sinner, who remarkably beat top-ranked superstar Novak Djokovic twice in one day on Saturday as Italy eliminated Serbia, secured his country’s second title against Lleyton Hewitt’s 28-time winners in style.  The Italian demoralised the scampering De Minaur with a relentless performance, overpowering him with vicious ground-strokes to the delight of the majority of the packed Martin Carpena arena.

On Saturday Italy were on the verge of elimination, but Sinner saved three match points against Djokovic to force a deciding doubles clash.

“Yesterday we were one point away from being out and now we can celebrate winning, I think we can all be very, very happy,” said Sinner, after ending Italy’s 47-year wait, the third-longest gap between titles in Davis Cup history.

Sinner, who lost the ATP Finals showdown with Djokovic a week ago in Turin, deserves special credit for his stunning displays in Malaga — he won all five rubbers he played in.

Laser-focused from the start, he broke early in the first set for a 2-1 lead when De Minaur sent a lob long and then consolidated with a powerful forehand.

The 22-year-old brought up three set points and clinched the first set with the second of them when De Minaur volleyed beyond the baseline.

In the second set Sinner produced 19 winners to just five unforced errors to sweep to victory. Meanwhile,

Novak Djokovic said he accepts responsibility for Serbia’s Davis Cup semifinal defeat by Italy on Saturday after failing to convert three match points against Jannik Sinner.

The world No 1 had his Italian counterpart on the ropes in the second singles rubber at 5-4 up, but allowed Sinner to recover and win 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 to force the doubles decider.

Djokovic and Miomir Kecmanovic, who had won the opening singles rubber against Lorenzo Musetti, were defeated by Sinner and Lorenzo Sonego 6-3, 6-4 and leave Malaga disappointed.