Lorenzo Musetti booked Italy’s spot in the Davis Cup finals with a dramatic win over Norbert Gombos in the decisive third match.
Filip Polasek and Igor Zelenay earned Slovakia a 2-1 led over Italy after their 6-3 1-6 7-6 (7-3) win over Simone Bolelli and Jannik Sinner at the NTC Arena in Bratislava.
Polasek and Zelenay won the first set 6-3 with their only break in the sixth game. Bolelli and Sinner bounced back by breaking twice in the second and sixth games to win the second set 6-1.
Both teams went on serve with no break points en route to the tie-break. Polasek and Zelenay earned a double mini-break to open up a 5-2 lead after a volley backhand error from Sinner. The Italian team pulled a mini-break back, but Polasek and Zelenay sealed the tie-break 7-3 with a stop volley on their first match point.
Jannik Sinner drew level to 2-2 with his 7-5 6-4 win over Filip Horansky. Sinner won his fifth consecutive singles match in the Davis Cup.
Horansky went up a 3-0 lead with an early break. Sinner broke back in the fifth game to draw level to 3-3. Sinner won 12 of the next 13 points from 4-5 0-15 down and sealed the first set 7-5 with a break in the 11th game.
Sinner earned the decisive break in the first game of the second set at deuce with a forehand on the break point. The Italian star dropped just three points in his next service games to seal the second set 6-4.
Lorenzo Musetti earned Italy the decisive 3-2 point after beating Norbert Gombos 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 6-4 after 2 hours and 30 minutes in the decisive match.
The first serve went on serve en route to the tie-break. Gombos earned four set points at 6-2 and sealed the tie-break 7-3 on his second chance.
Musetti broke twice and saved two break points in the seventh game to win the second set 6-2.
The Italian player earned an early break to open up a 3-0 lead. Gombos broke back in the fifth game to draw level to 3-3.
Musetti sealed the third set 6-4 with a break at 15 on the match point with a backhand winner in the 10th game after 2 hours and 24 minutes.
