Eighteen teams, six groups, three cities: the new salad bowl has been taken, which not everyone likes. The Azzurri are looking for the finals in Madrid with a young and renewed team
Let’s call it, by convention, Davis Cup. And let’s try to win it, from today in Turin, dragged by the overflowing youth of Jannik Sinner invigorated by the pure oxygen of the Atp Finals and injected with the home factor of Lorenzo Sonego, thecountry child favorite on the mature experience of Fabio Fognini in the role of second singles player. For another thing.
a tournament for nations sold by the international Federtennis to Gerard Piqu’s Kosmos group: in 2019 they made it a Mundialito in a single location (Madrid), spoiled by a delusional programming and conquered as expected by Spain, which this year had replaced the icon Rafa Nadal with the rampant Carlos Alcaraz, the Next Gen who is in a hurry and yesterday – alas – positive result at Covid. In 2020, the pandemic wiped out the tournament. They try again with six groups of three teams, spread across three different locations (Madrid, Innsbruck behind closed doors and Turin, at the Pala Alpitour which has become hope green after the midnight blue of the Finals). for example), from the semifinals onwards all in Spain, to tear two sets out of three for this World Cup that is more popular with young people than matusa, because they don’t know (the young people) what they lost with the death of old Davis. Who asked for a necessary restyling, certainly not euthanasia.
Business does not suffer from nostalgia, sport does not wait for romantics, the indiscretion of the event already sold for the next five years in Abu Dhabi, in the Emirates, as if it were an F1 or motorcycle grand prix, is flawless. And so yesterday, under the vaults of Pala Alpitour, Cilic’s Croatia inaugurated the Italian variant of the new Davis Cup by beating De Minaur’s Australia with the former savage Lleyton Hewitt on the bench (Piqu doesn’t understand anything about tennis, his ideas are ridiculous, amen), while in Innsbruck France struggled with the Czech Republic and in Madrid Canada sank under the blows of the Swedish brothers, Elias and Mikael Ymer. Today from 16 it’s our turn, the young Italy of the new captain Filippo Volandri (I have five owners in the team): three boys, Sinner, Sonego and Musetti, and two senators, Fognini and Bolelli, which made life difficult for the two rookies, Jannik and Lorenzo (Musetti), during the inevitable initiation rite: a speech standing in front of the group, interrupted by jokes and jokes.
The Azzurri’s debut, although the change of field and balls has dampened the sidereal speed of the central player of the Atp Finals, will not be soft. On the other side of the net, Mardy Fish’s United States awaits us, the captain who in a good Netflix documentary (Untold) lifted the veil on depression and mental health in high-level tennis, in the wake of Naomi Osaka in Paris and Simone Biles at the Tokyo Games.
against the USA of the pivots (Isner, Opelka), of Tiafoe who has just beaten Sinner in Vienna and of the strong doubles Ram and Sock that Italy will play the passage to the quarter-finals from before the group, with the possibility of playing on Monday, again in Turin. Fish is unlikely to give up on his number one Isner (n.24 in the ranking), who will challenge Sinner (n.10), promoted to the role of leader due to the absence of Matteo Berrettini due to injury. More likely that Tiafoe (n.38) will play in the place of Opelka (n.26) with Sonego (n.27), a choice that would keep Fognini fresh for double with Bolelli, the safe second hand. Open confrontation, it is mandatory to annex the victory to be able to challenge the Colombia of Galan, Cabal and Farah (very strong doublers) tomorrow without too many ghosts in the head.
The big favorites of this thing called Davis Cup, however, are elsewhere. Djokovic’s Serbia, hungry after fasting in King Zverev’s Master, on the field today in Innsbruck with soft Austria. The Russia of Medvedev, Rublev, Karatsev and Khachanov, which scares you as you turn. Sinner will be able to manage tension, Sonego a stage animal, Fognini a certainty says Volandri, forcing himself to look far. Madrid seems around the corner. It seems.
November 26, 2021 (change November 26, 2021 | 09:45 am)
© Time.News