[1/5]Tennis – Davis Cup Finals – Semifinal – Serbia vs Italy – Palacio de deportes Martin Carpena, Malaga, Spain – November 25, 2023 Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in action during his match against Italy’s Jannik Sinner REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura Acquisition of licensing rights
MALAGA, Spain, Nov 25 (Reuters) – Italy returned to the Davis Cup final after a 25-year gap as Jannik Sinner beat Novak Djokovic in both singles and doubles to secure a 2-1 win over Serbia on Saturday who won the 1976 champions title clash with Australia.
Sinister and doubles partner Lorenzo Sonego beat the Serbian duo of Djokovic and Miomir Kecsmanovic 6-3 6-4 to secure a famous victory that put the former champions on edge and sparked wild celebrations at a rocking Martin Carpena Arena in Spain.
Next up for Filippo Volandri’s side, who will be playing in an eighth finals and seeking a second trophy, are 28-time champions Australia after Lleyton Hewitt’s side overcame giant-killing Finland on Friday.
Sinner earlier saved three points to stun Djokovic 6-2 2-6 7-5 in a superb singles match to help Italy draw Serbia 1-1 after Kecsmanovic put the 2010 champions ahead defeating Lorenzo Musetti 6-7(7 ) 6-2 6-1.
Sinner faced Djokovic for the third time in 11 days and the world number four, who beat the Serb early in the ATP Finals before losing to him in the title clash, started quickly to ease into the first set with two . brakes.
The 22-year-old, who had sparked Italy’s quarter-final comeback against the Netherlands, took his foot off the gas in the next set to allow Djokovic to come back but continued to pull away in the hope of sealing a second win against him . in six meetings.
He saved three games from 0-40 down at 4-5 and then broke Djokovic for a 6-5 lead before holding his nerve to make a pass and claim one of the most remarkable wins of his career amid deafening cheers.
“It was definitely the game changer today,” Sinner said of his singles heroics at 4-5. “I just tried to push every point and the 0-40 game helped the confidence and also after I broke him. It’s all part of tennis.
“Obviously playing doubles in the deciding tie of the Davis Cup is not easy. There is a lot of pressure, I think we both handled it very well. We are a very complete team and each of us is really happy to be here.
“We’ll do our best tomorrow. Let’s see what comes.”
The defeat was a bitter pill to swallow for Djokovic, winner of three of four Grand Slams in a stunning season, as the 36-year-old lost his first Davis Cup match since the 2011 semi-final when he was retired by Argentina’s Juan Martin. del Potro.
It was just the fourth time Djokovic has lost a match at tournament level after holding a match point and Sinner also became the first player to beat the 24-time Grand Slam champion twice in singles in the same season since Daniil Medvedev in 2019.
Kecsmanovic had earlier cruised from set to power past Musetti to leave Serbia one win away from their third final in the elite men’s team event and first since 2013.
Musetti made a slow start against the flying Kecmanovic and narrowly avoided a double break before the world number 27 found his range to level the first set at 5-5 and came from behind again in the tiebreak to fasten.
Kecmanovic’s level barely dropped as the world number 55 cruised through the next set and was twice broken in the third for a 4-0 lead, which was enough for the 24-year-old to see off Musetti who was struggling with a thigh problem.
Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru. Editing by Pritha Sarkar, Clare Fallon and Toby Davis
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