Italy wins the decisive doubles match to reach the Davis Cup semifinals - UBITENNIS
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Italy wins the decisive doubles match to reach the Davis Cup semifinals

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10 months ago

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Italy advanced to the semifinals of the Davis Cup by Rakuten in Malaga after Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli beat Jack Sock and Tommy Paul 6-4 6-4 in the decisive doubles match to earn the Italian team the 2-1 point after both teams split the singles matches. The Italian team clinched a win over the United States in the Davis Cup for the second consecutive year to reach their first semifinal at this tournament since 2014. 

 

Earlier today Lorenzo Sonego beat Frances Tiafoe 6-3 7-6 (9-7) in the first singles match to give Italy a 1-0 lead before Taylor Fritz pulled the United States level with Italy at 1-1 in the Davis Cup quarter finals. 

In the opening singles match Sonego fired 17 aces and never dropped a service  game to Tiafoe. 

Sonego earned the first break in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead and held serve after saving a break-back point. Sonego closed out the first set 6-3 on his first set point. 

Sonego fended off a break point in the sixth game of the second set with his 10thgame.  The Italian player saved two set points while he was serving 5-6 down to force the tie-break. 

Sonego sealed the win after Tiafoe netted a forehand after a long rally to end the tie-break of the second set. 

“It was amazing atmosphere. We are in Malaga, not too far from home. I really enjoyed every moment on the court with the crowd”, said Sonego. 

Fritz beat Sonego 7-6 (10-8) 6-3 to keep the US team alive. The US player fired 12 aces to beat Musetti for the second time this year after scoring a win over the Italian player at Wimbledon last week. 

Musetti saved an early break point in his first service game and faced another chance in the eighth game. Fritz dropped just one point in each of his six service games. Musetti saved a set point in the 12th game with a crosscourt forehand after a long rally. Musetti wasted two set points in the tie-break on the 11th and 15thconsecutive point. Fritz sealed the tie-break 10-8 after Musetti sent a lob wide. 

Fritz saved three break points in the first game of the second set. The US player broke serve in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead and held on his next service games. He closed out the match with second break in the ninth game after Musetti made his third double fault. 

“Fritz showed that he is really in good form. He showed even last week. He played really good. I think it was even tough for him, especially the first set. At the end I had my chances. I did not take them, but tennis is like this. I tried to be brave, to be aggressive on his second serve, but I was a little bit maybe in a rush, and he deserved the win”, said Musetti. 

In the decisive doubles match Bolelli and Fognini broke once in each set to set up a semifinal against either Germany or Canada. 

Tommy Paul faced two break points at the start of the match but the US team saved them. Fognini and Bolelli converted their fourth break point in the ninth game and sealed the first set 6-4 after Sock made a volley error. 

Italy faced the first break point on Fognini’s serve in the second game of the second set. Sock faced two break points in the seventh game and Bolelli converted the chance to earn Italy a 4-3 lead. Bolelli held serve at love for 5-3 before Fognini sealed the win on the first match point with an ace in the 10th game. 

Fognini and Bolelli won the Australian Open doubles title in 2015 and reached the quarter final at this tournament in 2022. This year they won two titles in Rio de Janeiro and Umag.

“I am really happy. I am here with my “brother”. We played really well”, said Fognini. 

“I am happy for me, for Fabio, for the team. It was really tough, but it is great to be through to the final”, said Bolelli. 

Italian captain Filippo Volandri expressed his happiness after the match. 

“I am really happy to have this team. Everyone is ready to do this job whenever I call them. I am really proud of all of them. Sonego has had a tough year but I knew he could do unbelievable things in the Davis Cup and he did”. 

Italy won the quarter final without its top two players as Jannik Sinner has an injured finger and Matteo Berrettini is recovering from a foot injury. 

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Alexander Zverev beats Roman Safiulin to to claim his second title of the year in Chengdu

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8 hours ago

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26/09/2023

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Alexander Zverev came back from a set and a break down to beat Roman Safiulin 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 at the Chengdu Open claiming the 21st title of his career. 

 

Zverev has moved to seventh seventh in the ATP Race to Turin boosting his chances of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals. 

Safiulin  saved three break points in the 10th game of the first set, which went on serve en route to the tie-break. Safiulin earned three mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-3. 

Safiulin earned an early break in the second game to take a 2-0 lead. Zverev broke straight back and forced the second set  to a second tie-break. Zverev went up a mini-break three times, but Safiulin pulled back on serve each time. Zverev was two points from defeat at 5-5 in the tie-break of the second set but he won the final two points to win the second set. 

Zverev earned the decisive break in the fourth game to open up a 3-1 lead and closed out the win on his first match point. 

Zverev won his second title of the season after his triumph in home city Hamburg last July. “He is playing the best tennis of his life for sure. The way he was winning this week. I think he beat a lot of great players quite easily, so I think that he was playing well. Obviously, I am happy to be able to come back and to win this title”, said Zverev. 

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Daria Kasatkina beats Marta Kostyuk to advance to the second round in Tokyo

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15 hours ago

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26/09/2023

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Daria Kasatkina came back from one set down to beat Marta Kostyuk 3-6 6-4 6-3 in 2 hours and 24 minutes reaching the second round at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. 

 

Katatkina is playing her first tournament since the US Open, where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round. 

Kasatkina set up a second round match against Greek qualifier Despina Papamichail, who beat Japanese lucky loser Sakura Hosogi 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 in 2 hours and 19 minutes. 

Kostyuk dropped just eight points on serve and broke serve in the fourth game to close out the first set 6-3. The second set featured nine service breaks in ten games. Kostyuk went up a break three times, but Kasatkina pulled back on serve each time. Kasatkina broke in the eighth and tenth games to seal the second set 6-4. 

Kostyuk went up a break twice in the third set, but she was broken back both times. Kasatkina drew level to 3-3, as Kostyuk made a overhead error, and won the final four games to seal the third set 6-4. 

Anastasya Pavlyuchenkova cruised past Donna Vekic 6-1 6-1 in just 74 minutes. Nineteen-year-old Linda Noskova saved one set point to beat Japanese lucky loser Himeno Sakatsume 6-2 7-5 setting up a second round against Anastasya Pavlyuchenkova. 

Ekaterina Aleksandrova came back from one set down to beat Anna Kalinskaya 6-7 (7-9) 6-1 7-5 in 2 hours and 21 minutes setting up a second round against Liudmila Samsonova. 

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Eight of the top 10 players in the line-up in Beijing

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17 hours ago

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26/09/2023

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The China Open, an ATP 500 hard-court tournament, is taking place for the first time since 2019 after a long break due to covid-19. 

 

Eight of the top 10 players in the ATP Ranking are lining up in the Chinese capital. Carlos Alcaraz will face a qualifier in the first round before a clash against either Karen Khachanov or Lorenzo Musetti in the second round. Alcaraz won six titles this year in Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Barcelona, Madrid, Queen’s and Wimbledon during a successful 2023 season. 

The Spanish player could face a quarter final against Roland Garros finalist Casper Ruud. The Norwegian player will play against Jan-Lennard Struff, who made his come-back from injury last week in Zhuhai. The German player finished runner-up to Carlos Alcaraz in Madrid and to Frances Tiafoe in Stuttgart in his two finals earlier this year. 

Holger Rune has been drawn in the top draw and could meet Jannik Sinner, who won his first Masters 1000 title in Toronto and reached the semifinal at Wimbledon. Sinner will face Dan Evans, who won the Washington Open last August. Rune, who is currently ranked eighth in the ATP Race to Turin, beat Sinner in the semifinal in Monte-Carlo. The Danish player will face Felix Auger Aliassime in the first round. 

Alexander Zverev will start his campaign against Diego Schwartzman in the first round and is seeded to face Stefanos Tsitsipas, who meets Nicolas Jarry. Zverev won his first title of the season in Hamburg and reached the semifinal in Cincinnati and the quarter final at the US Open. 

Andrey Rublev will take on Cameron Norrie in the bottom half. 

Chinese Next Gen player Shang Juncheng will play against Yoshihito Nishioka in an all Asian first round clash. Shang reached the quarter finals in Washington and Atlanta. 

The most interesting first round matches are: Andy Murray vs Alex De Minaur (Masters 1000 finalist in Toronto) and US Open finalist Danil Medvedev vs Tommy Paul. Murray could face Danil Medvedev in the second round. 

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