Italy Advances to Davis Cup Semifinals After Defeating Austria
In a display of dominance, Italy, the defending champion, secured their place in the Davis Cup semi-finals by defeating Austria with a score of 2-0. The match, held in Bologna, saw Flavio Cobolli lead the way with a convincing victory. Cobolli sealed the triumph with a powerful winning serve, after 65 minutes of play, to the delight of the local audience. The semifinal is scheduled for Friday. Italy boasts an impressive streak of 12 consecutive victories in the Davis Cup, since their last defeat in the final group stage of 2023. Previously, Matteo Berrettini also contributed to the Italian victory by defeating Jurij Rodionov with scores of 6-3 and 7-6 (4). Berrettini came back from a 5-2 deficit in the second set, achieving a break in the ninth game. He saved three set points against his opponent and finally prevailed in the tiebreak.Since the matchups are defined as best-of-three games, the doubles match was not necessary.
Italy, currently number 1 in the ranking, is looking for its third consecutive title and the fourth overall. Jannik Sinner, who led Italy to victory in 2023 and 2024, decided not to participate in this edition of the Davis Cup. Austria, ranked number 12, has only managed to beat Italy once in their six previous encounters, in the 1990 quarter-finals in Vienna, their best result in the team competition. The final phase of the Davis Cup in Bologna marks the sixth edition of the renewed event, where the champion is defined in a neutral venue. Carlos Alcaraz, the six-time Grand Slam champion, who was recently runner-up to Sinner at the ATP Finals in Turin on Sunday, withdrew due to a hamstring injury. Spain will face the Czech Republic, seeded number 4, and Germany, number 2, will play against Argentina in the last two quarter-finals on Thursday.
