(Málaga) Italy won its first Davis Cup title since 1976 after defeating Australia 2-0 in the final on Sunday.
Jannik Sinner defeated Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-0 in the second singles match of the day. Matteo Arnaldi put Italy ahead with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 victory over Alexei Popyrin.
The Italians had lost the last three finals against Australia, which itself lost in the final to Canada last year.
“No other country has made it to the final twice in a row in the last two years, so we showed a great collective effort,” said de Minaur. We are so close, it really hurts. We will be back. We have a great future ahead of us. »
Sinner improved to 5-0 this week at the Davis Cup.
Sinner helped Italy defeat Novak Djokovic and Serbia in the semi-finals on Saturday when he triumphed in both singles and doubles against the world number one. Australia, for its part, eliminated Finland to reach the final four.
The 22-year-old needed just 81 minutes to win against de Minaur and allow his team to celebrate.
“We’re all very young,” Sinner said. We all crave to win one more time, but to have that feeling at least once is truly special. »
Earlier in the day, Arnaldi saved eight break points before recording a break to take the third and final set.
“I think I won the most important match of my life,” insisted Arnaldi, 44th in the world.
Italy has just lifted the Davis Cup for a second time while Australia has been crowned champion of this tournament on 28 occasions.
