On Saturday, Australia will take on Italy for a place in the Davis Cup final in Malaga.
The winners of Saturday’s key clash will take on the Netherlands in the final after they reached the final by beating Germany in the semi-finals.
It is a rematch from last year’s final where Italy won the title thanks to world number one Jannik Sinner.
Ahead of the clash ubitennis founder Ubaldo Scanagatta interviewed Australian journalist Craig Gabriel about the tie and where it can be won and lost.
US: Here we are with an Australian tennis commentator for many years, Craig Gabriel. What do you expect?
CG: “What do I expect? I think the outcome is uncertain. Of course, Italy have always started as favorites, in all the matches, and not just the semi-final with Australia. But we have to remember that the fact that Jannik Sinner is there makes them the favorites. But it is only 1 point out of 3, which gives Australia the opportunity to do it. Jannik is incredible. And there is also a connection with Australia because Darren Cahill is part of his team. For me, I find it very difficult to pick a winner.”
US: As you say, there are 2 spots that are within your reach. The No. 2 singles and then the doubles. In doubles, I personally think Australia is the favorite, but who do you think is the best player for Australia if Italy will most likely play Berrettini?
CG: “I thought about Berrettini too. I think they could go with Alexei Popyrin as the No. 2 singles player. Kokkinakis played an incredible singles match in the quarterfinals against America, but I think they want to sideline him and rest him and put Alexei Popyrin in the second singles against Berrettini, if Berrettini is No. 2.”
US: So that means you would put De Minaur as number one. But De Minaur has lost 8 times in a row to Sinner, he doesn’t seem to have a chance against him and he doesn’t cause any problems for Sinner. Popyrin on the other hand could put him in difficulty. And he could tire Sinner out more, considering that Sinner is likely to play doubles as well. Although we don’t know for sure.
CG: “Of course we don’t know. Well, you’re right. The head-to-head is 8-0. Alex has only won 1 set with Jannik. But it’s a different situation in Davis Cup. I’m not saying he will win, but I think he could challenge Jannik a lot. We’ll see how it develops, but you can never take anything for granted when Alex De Minaur plays, he has the heart of a lion and he is so fast, incredibly fast. And having Leyton Hewitt on the sidelines to push him will give him extra confidence. We’ll see. But of course Jannik is the favorite. I think the first singles is really crucial.
US: So you think Popyrin has a better chance of beating Berrettini even though Hewitt has suggested that a Davis Cup player like Kokkinakis would be more reliable to beat Berrettini? Because last year Popyrin lost and De Minaur had no chance against Sinner.
CG: “Well, yes, but Hewitt also wants to give Popyrin a chance to get his mind off what happened last year. Popyrin certainly wants to make up for the loss to Arnaldi and go back to playing the Italian team. He probably can’t wait to get out there and play. But Hewitt might also decide to play him in doubles. You never know what’s going on in the captain’s mind. And that’s the excitement of the Davis Cup.”
US: Let’s say Australia gets the second point. Ebden and Thompson are both Grand Slam champions, but with different partners. Would you think Italy would probably choose Berrettini again if he had lost the singles match?
CG: “Let’s see, Volandri called up Vavassori and Bolelli but did not field them in the quarterfinal match. We’ll see how the captain feels. Ebden and Thompson, as you said, do not play together much, but they have both had a couple of fantastic years, Thompson this year in particular. The certainty is that the team, like the Italian one, is so united that anyone would be happy to play with each other.”
US: What we fear most to be honest is that Lleyton Hewitt is a great captain. He always knows what to do, he is a former Davis Cup player, he has a lot of resources. He beat the United States, it was not easy to predict a result like that.
CG: “I predicted it. I said that Australia would beat the United States.”
US: So now you think Australia will beat Italy too?
CG: “I won’t tell you! But I know one thing: I will have to wear a yellow jersey, I wore a yellow jersey last year and Ebden said that every time we play I have to wear that jersey. I’m not superstitious, but I’m doing it for the team. And I wore that jersey in the quarter-finals.”
US: That’s super superstitious!
CG: “We call it routine!”
US: All right, good luck! And thank you.
CG: “Bye! Thank you”
