Matteo Berrettini gives Italy a 1-0 lead over the Netherlands in the Davis Cup final

MALAGA, Spain (AP) — Matteo Berrettini put Italy ahead 1-0 against the Netherlands in the final of the Davis Cup on Sunday by beating Botic van de Zandschulp 6-4, 6-2, setting up No. 1-ranked Jannik Sinner for a chance to clinch the country’s second consecutive championship in the team competition.

Berrettini was not at his best in the early going against van de Zandschulp — the man who beat Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals, the last match of the 22-time Grand Slam title winner’s career — but once he got going, he took control by grabbing the opening set’s last three games.

Berrettini, who had one day fewer of rest than his opponent, came out a bit off, whether from fatigue or, perhaps, nerves. After missing groundstrokes, he would tug at his backward white cap or put his hands on his hips.

The 80th-ranked van de Zandschulp, who upset four-time major champion Carlos Alcaraz at the U.S. Open in August, looked calm and relaxed, betraying nothing in terms of emotion with his body language — positive or negative.

Everything shifted at 4-all in the first set. Berrettini broke at love when van de Zandschulp played a loose game, hurt by missing first serves, and ended it by missing a backhand. Berrettini walked past the Davis Cup trophy, which stood just beyond a corner of the court, and shook his right fist, as a rowdy, mostly Italian, crowd sang for him.

Soon that set was over, and Sinner left his front-row seat behind Italy’s bench to go prepare for his match.

Another poor service game by van de Zandschulp arrived at 1-1 in the second, when he went up 40-love but eventually got broken by double-faulting. The match would last another 20 or so minutes but essentially was over right then and there as 2021 Wimbledon runner-up Berrettini stretched his Davis Cup winning streak to eight matches.

The big server closed it out with an ace at 124 mph (200 kph) and a service winner at 132 mph (213 kph). He has been ranked as high as No. 6 and is currently No. 35 after missing chunks of time the past two seasons because of injuries or illness. He sat out two of this year’s four major tournaments and lost in the second round at the other two.

The Italians were hoping to become the first country since the Czech Republic in 2012 and 2013 to win the Davis Cup two years in a row. Italy’s women won the Billie Jean King Cup by defeating Slovakia in Malaga on Wednesday.

Netherlands is in the Davis Cup final for the first time.

Sinner was going to try to close out the best-of-three-match final against 40th-ranked Tallon Griekspoor on the indoor hard court at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martina Carpena.

Sinner entered Sunday with a 72-6 record and eight titles in 2024, including Grand Slam trophies at the Australian Open and U.S. Open, plus a win a week ago at the ATP Finals.

He is unbeaten in his last 13 tour-level singles matches, taking 24 sets in a row.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Howard Fendrich, The Associated Press