Malaga, Nov 25 (IANS) Jannik Sinner rounded out his stunning year after defeating Tallon Griekspoor 7-6(2), 6-2 to seal a Davis Cup title for Italy by beating the Netherlands 2-0 in final.
Italy have become Davis Cup champions for a second straight year, and the third time in their history, by beating the Netherlands 2-0 in Sunday’s Final in Malaga.
After Matteo Berrettini set Italy on their way with an emphatic 6-4 6-2 victory over Botic van de Zandschulp, Sinner’s win completed a 2-0 triumph for his country against the Netherlands.
The Australian Open, US Open and ATP Finals champion Sinner has finished his 2024 season with a 73-6 singles record, according to the Infosys ATP Stats Win/Loss Index, the most by an ATP Tour player since Andy Murray’s 78 in 2016. The 23-year-old won his final 14 tour-level matches of the season, and dropped just one set across that streak.
“Every year is different feelings. Obviously coming back as defending champions and winning again, it’s one of the best feelings I think for all of us. Of course having Matteo here as a player and as a
teammate, it’s a bit different. So I’m very happy and glad that we managed this,” said Sinner.
“But the whole team gave 100%. There is a lot of work behind the scenes. Very tough decisions for Filippo, also. So we are very happy to lift this trophy and of course to go into the preseason with a bunch of confidence boosts. We are all very happy,” he added.
Italy also became the first country to defend the Davis Cup title since Czechia in 2013 and just the fifth nation in history to win both the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup in the same year.
“It’s amazing, because last year we won for the first time after 47 years,” said Italy captain Filippo Volandri of his team’s latest Davis Cup triumph. “
But what I said at the beginning of this journey to the players is, ‘We want to make history, and history is if you can do it twice’. I was thinking in the next few years, but it happened right away and I’m so proud of this team,” he added.
For the Netherlands, this was their first Davis Cup final in their 104th year in the competition.
–IANS
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