Davis Cup Final recaps: Matteo Berrettini puts Italy in great spot versus Australia

Matteo Berrettini has struggled mightily over the last few years with injuries. He is a shell of the player he could have been. He possesses a bombastic forehand that can dictate play in any given match. But all his talent does him little good when he cannot play.

Berrettini had to know that he likely only needed to win his Davis Cup Final match against Australia's Thanasi Kokkinakis to almost guarantee a win for Italy in the semifinal tie and move into the final against the Netherlands on Sunday. The reason is that Italy will next put Jannik Sinner on the court and expecting any player in the world to defeat Sinner right now seems foolish.

Sinner will play Alex de Minaur. De Minaur is a fine player who moves around the court as well as anyone, but he has never beaten Sinner in eight tries (de Minaur did get a "win" over Sinner in 2023 but that was a walkover). The last time de Minaur won a set off of Sinner was in 2020, seven matches ago.

Matteo Berrettini put Italy in firm control of Davis Cup tie versus Australia

However, the Berrettini versus Kokkinakis match might be difficult to match as far as excellent play. The Aussie got the first set in a tie-break, the Italian won the second set 6-3, and the third set was even until Berrettini got a break with the set tied at 5-all. He was helped by one of the best shots of the tournament so far.

The Australian had powered a forehand to Berrettini's right who would seemingly be lucky to even get a racket on the ball. Instead, he stretched, hit a forehand slice that barely went over the net, and landed in cross-court for a winner. He played brilliantly throughout the last two sets, but the one shot seemed to end the match. Even Kokkinakis appeared astonished by what Berrettini had done.

Now Sinner simply needs to win his match. This would put Italy into the final with a chance to win the Davis Cup for the second straight year. As well as 23-year-old Sinner is playing currently and likely into the future, Italy will be a tough out in the Davis Cup for most of the next decade.

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