Jannik Sinner defeats Novak Djokovic as Italy beat Serbia to set up Davis Cup final clash vs Australia
Jannik Sinner was the hero for Italy as they came back from behind to defeat Novak Djokovic's Serbia 2-1 and reach the Davis Cup final.
Sinner beat Djokovic in both singles and doubles as Italy set up a title clash against Australia on Sunday.
The first match of the tie was between Miomir Kecmanovic and Lorenzo Musetti, and it was the former who broke in the opening game. The Italian broke back when the Serb was serving for the match, and the set eventually went into a tiebreak. Kecmanovic took a 3-1 lead but Musetti went on to win 9-7 to take the opening set.
Kecmanovic roared back into the match during the second set and won it 6-2 to force the fixture into a decider. He gained momentum and dominated the final set to win it 6-1 and give Serbia a 1-0 lead.
Next came the highly anticipated clash between Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner. After both players held serve in the first two games of the match, the Italian won four in a row to lead 5-1. He claimed the opening set 6-2 to take the lead in the encounter.
However, Djokovic, as he has often shown before, staged a comeback in the second set to win it by the same margin and force the match into a decider.
The final set saw both players mostly dominate their service games until the tenth game. With Djokovic, leading 5-4, he had three match points as Sinner was 0-40 on his serve.
However, the Italian saved the match points and won the game before making the decisive break in the following game. The Italian then once again held serve to take the match 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 and bring Italy back into the tie. This was the World No. 4's second victory over Djokovic in six meetings between the two.
The doubles fixture would determine the outcome of the semifinal, and Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner would face one another again as they teamed up with Miomir Kecmanovic and Lorenzo Sonego respectively.
Both pairs looked very solid on their serve during the start of the opening set before the Italians broke serve in the sixth game. This turned out to be decisive as they won the opening set 6-3.
The pairs exchanged breaks during the first four games of the second set, and Djokovic and Kecmanovic had a few break points during the sixth game. However, Sinner and Sonego managed to save them all before breaking serve in the following game to lead 4-3.
The duo saved a break point in the final game of the match before winning it to register a 6-3, 6-4 victory and take Italy to the Davis Cup final for the seventh time.
Italy will face Australia in the Davis Cup final
After defeating Serbia, Italy will face Australia in the Davis Cup Final.
The Aussies have been quite impressive during the knockout stages of the tournament, beating Czech Republic 2-1 to book their spot against Finland in the semifinals. Wins from Alexei Popyrin and Alex de Minaur booked the nation's place in the Davis Cup final for the 49th time.
If Italy win, they will win the tournament for the first time since 1976 and second time overall, while victory for Australia will see them clinch it for the 29th time.