In Bologna, the Azzurri’s third consecutive Davis Cup final, the tenth in history. In first singles Berrettini beat Carreno Busta 6-3, 6-4. Now Cobolli is fighting Munar.
Now Cobolli and Munar are on the field
The second single of the day (and this could be the decider) is between Flavio Cobolli and Jaume Munar, with Italy leading 1-0.
Happiness Matteo: “Stepping on the ground, it’s Fabio’s turn: come on!”
Berrettini at the end of the match: “I’m very happy, touched by this crowd. But let’s stay grounded, on the right track, now it’s Fabio’s turn. Thank you for the support. This morning I was a little nervous, I told myself to enjoy it and feel comfortable on the pitch, playing point by point. We just look back to learn. It went well. It doesn’t matter who is playing on the pitch, who is cheering here or watching us on TV: we are all one team, come on again!”
Matteo won in 2 sets (6-3, 6-4), Italy 1 Spain 0
Carreno Busta came out and complained about the crowd noise, but Berrettini now had 3 match points: the Spaniard scored, Berrettini won in two sets (6-3, 6-4) and Italy took a 1-0 lead over Spain in the Davis final.
Break by Berrettini, now needed for the match
Carreno Busta’s legs were shaking: he made two mistakes, then he approached the net and Matteo passed him with a backhand cross to the millimeter. Three chances to break serve: perhaps this was the defining moment of the match. Second of all, Matteo is gone!
Twelfth ace from blue: return to parity in the second set
With two winning serves, Berrettini immediately made it clear who was in charge here in Bologna. One “hammer” after another, as he knew how to do: the twelfth ace arrived. Carreno Busta was helpless, they drew again in the second set.
The Spaniard continued to play
Pablo really didn’t think about giving up. At least not now. He won his tour of duty to zero.
The Hammer has not lost its quirks
Lateral movement has never been one of Berrettini’s best qualities. But what was nicknamed The Hammer: two good first goals, two errors by the Spaniard, and the score in the second half was back in balance.
Carreno Busta took the lead in the second set
A great backhand down the line at the kiss wasn’t enough, Matteo made a few mistakes and the Spaniard regained the lead on the scoreline.
Eighth ace, Matteo equalized the score in the second set
Now that Matteo had switched gears, he replaced his opponent with the same coin, closing with the eighth ace of the match
The Spaniard won his game with nil
The Spaniard continued to attack and forced Berrettini to move from one side of the pitch to the other. Pablo closes his serve to zero.
The master of the blue game, Carreno Busta, suffers
The blue guy seems to be gaining control of the game, although he is less precise than before when serving. However, he closed it out with a winning serve, putting all the pressure on his opponent.
Unfortunately, Matteo wasted two break opportunities
Five aces to one, but most importantly it was Matteo’s second serve (80% success) and return that made the difference for now. In the first game of the second set, thanks to a double fault by the Spaniard, he had 2 break opportunities. Carreno Busta made up for the first with his serve, in the second he forced Berrettini into a mistake after taking a lot of risks. Pablo turned things around. Too bad.
The blue won the first half 6-3
Keep improving your serve, Matteo: there are 3 set points, Berrettini only needs the first set to close the first round 6-3.
Break by Matteo, now required for the set
Three break chances for Berrettini, this could be the key moment in the first set: the Spaniard saved the first 2 chances (also thanks to the first ace) but then succumbed to the blue’s volley. That broke his serve.
Short pass and run on goal: the blue is back in the lead
The blue continued to vary the game, using short balls and scoring goals: it worked, he took the lead again.
Carreno Busta won his game to zero
Carreno Busta currently only controls 50% of the first ball, but he manages his turns with ease. He won the game to zero. Don’t give up.
Matteo was still ahead, and fourth ace
Fourth ace of the match for the Italian, who however in terms of exchanges was not very effective and suffered from his opponent’s aggression. He served 2 second serves in a row, then touched the net and Carreno Busta missed the lob.
Berrettini, wasted opportunity
Starting slightly slow, the blue’s forehand shot across the court seemed to give him confidence and energy. But once again he didn’t take advantage of his 15-30 advantage and was instead trapped.
Serve and volley, Matteo takes the lead again
Another ace for Berrettini, but Carreno Busta was a tough player to beat and dragged him into the advantage: a beautiful volley from the blue, capped by another winning serve.
The Spaniard forced the blue’s backhand and equalized the score
A nice backhand on the blue line, then the Spaniard goes wide with his forehand. Once again with a backhand tested by Carreno Busta, Berrettini tried to replace his shot with a quick shot. The Spaniard made a blue shot and equalized the score.
Double ace, Matteo gets the first game of the match
Matteo started with an ace and the winning serve, then closed with another ace and put the first game of the match in his pocket.
Carreno Busta wins the draw, Berrettini serves
One precedent after another between Berrettini and the Spaniard, always on hard courts. Matteo beat Rodionov from Austria in the quarterfinals and Collignon from Belgium in the semifinals, Carreno Busta beat Czech Mensik and German Struff. The draw was won by the Spanish player, who chose to accept.
Berrettini confirmed the first challenge
The scheduled line-up for the Davis Cup final in Bologna has been confirmed. The first singles, at 3 pm, will be met by the blue team Matteo Berrettini and Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta, will follow Flavio Cobolli against Jaume Munar. For possible doubles, the pairings announced by captain Volandri and Ferrer are Bolelli-Vavassori against Granoller-Martinez
The second single is Cobolli-Munar
Cobolli should be Volandri’s choice for the second single. The Roman player comes from the semi-final against Belgium’s Zizou Bergs. After more than three hours of play, in the sixth longest tie-break in Davis history, he took Italy to the final.
Discovering Cobolli: football, friends, fishing and spaghetti
by Massimo Calandri
In the last match between Italy and Spain, Volandri was on the field
The last challenge occurred 19 years ago, in San Sebastian. The hosts, reinforced by Rafael Nadal, won 4-1. He was also on the field Filippo Volandri, Italian captain, who beat Tommy Robredo 3-0, lost 1-3 to Nadal.
At 14.00 captain’s choice, Volandri heads to Berrettini for first single
Only around 14.00 will there be an official selection of the captains. Filippo Volandri had to rely on Matteo Berrettini in first singles. And he will have to face Pablo Carreno Busta, the current world number 89 but also a top ten player, whom he went 1-1 against in his previous match, in 2022. Captain David Ferrer will most likely not choose Pedro Martinez, who is now an important player in the doubles.
Today is the final against Spain
At 3pm the final against Spain begins. No. 1 is Munar but watch out for Carreno Busta, the n. 10 in the world.
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE AZZURRI
