Matteo Berrettini Proud of his Mentality at the Davis Cup After Stepping up in Jannik Sinner’s Absence

Italy earned a place in the final of the Davis Cup after beating Belgium 2-0 in Bologna.

Matteo Berrettini Proud of his Mentality at the Davis Cup After Stepping up in Jannik Sinner’s Absence

Matteo Berrettini and Jannik Sinner (via X/Jannik files)

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After Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti withdrew from the Davis Cup Finals in Bologna, there were very few hopes of Italy defending the title. But in their absence, Matteo Berrettini has stepped up for his country, leading the Italians to their third consecutive Davis Cup finals, and could help them win the title for the third straight season.

Berrettini is the only experienced player in the Italian team at the Davis Cup Finals following the withdrawal of Sinner and Musetti. He has been part of the team that won the championship in 2023 and 2024. However, coming into the tournament, there weren’t high expectations from him as he was just getting back from troublesome injuries.

Nonetheless, he has taken it upon himself to drive the team, influencing Flavio Cobolli to a magnificent performance. On Friday (November 21), he faced Belgium’s Raphael Collignon in the opening semi-finals clash in Bologna. The 29-year-old produced a splendid performance winning the first set after breaking Collignon twice.

In the second set, he continued with the same tempo and aggressiveness, stopping his Belgian opponent from achieving any comeback in the game. In the ninth game, he broke Collignon before going on to claim a 6-3, 6-4 victory, giving Italy a comfortable advantage. Cobolli then finished the job against Zizou Bergs to seal Italy’s spot in the final.

Having done a great job navigating his country to the final of the Davis Cup, Berrettini revealed that he’s confident in his game plan at the tournament. During his press conference, he pointed out that he has a fighting mentality at the tournament and believes the Italian team has what it takes to win the title:

I was confident in my tennis. I was thinking if I get broken here, I still have the chance to win the match. I still have to fight. It’s going to be long for me and for him. That’s the kind of mentality that I always tell myself. I believe in my tennis. I believe that I was playing better than him for a long time. I just have to keep going and good things would have come eventually. Luckily, they came pretty soon and I won the match.

Nevertheless, it is worth noting that Sinner got a lot of criticism for not representing his country at the Davis Cup Finals. He had pulled out just days into the Paris Masters. On the other hand, Musetti withdrew due to injury and family reasons.

Flavio Cobolli sends Italy to their third consecutive final at the Davis Cup in Bologna

Flavio Cobolli played a crucial role in Italy’s victory against Belgium at the Davis Cup Finals. The Italian star survived seven match points in a nerve-shredding encounter against Zizou Bergs at the SuperTennis Arena. He defeated Bergs 6-3, 6(5)-7, 7-6(15), ripping his shirt to shreds in celebration while Bergs covered his face in tears.

Flavio Cobolli 2
Flavio Cobolli (via X/ATP)

Italy’s win over Belgium was a revenge for last year’s loss at the Davis Cup round-robin stage. However, Belgium still leads the Italian team 2-1 in their head-to-head record at the event. Cobolli revealed during the aforementioned press conference that he played his heart out for his country and family:

It’s really tough to say something about this match. We fought for our country, for this win, but in the end I realised my dream. We are in the final now… I played for all of my team, my family, and it’s one of the best days of my life.

Italy now has a chance of winning the Davis Cup for the third consecutive time since the USA in 1971. The Italian team will await their final opponent as Spain and Germany fight for a place in the championship match on Sunday (November 23). Alexander Zverev will lead the line for Germany, with Spain missing Carlos Alcaraz.

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