Italy’s dream of going to Madrid to play the 2021 Davis Cup semi-final was broken at 11.41, with Pavic’s ace in the decisive double: it ended 6-3, 6-4 for the strongest pair of the world the quarter-final match against Croatia, and nothing could have been the determination of Jannik Sinner and the experience of Fabio Fognini against Pavic-Mektic, reigning champions at Wimbledon and winners at the Tokyo Olympics.
The afternoon started uphill, with Lorenzo Sonego’s unexpected defeat against Borna Gojo in three sets. The Turin player played a match that seemed to match the last one with the Colombian Mejia: he lost the first set at the tie break, he quickly took home the second for 6-2 but then collapsed in the third, finished 6-2 again. . The 33 free mistakes ruthlessly summarize the bad day of the number 27 in the world with an opponent clearly within his reach, whose exultation at the end of the game speaks more than anything else.
Down 1 to 0, Italy has pinned its hopes on Jannik Sinner, who faced tough Marin Cilic, already world number 3 in 2018 (now 30th) and winner of the US Open seven years ago. The two had never met yet and the first set won by Cilic 6-3, with a hail of first balls and impressive winners, left a great concern on the field, exacerbated by an excellent start in the second set for the Croatian who went ahead for 2-0. Sinner, however, did not give up, dragging the opponent to the tie break who had also snatched his serve on 4 all and had served for the match. The missed game of the victory (thanks to a double fault and a couple of trivial errors) made the game spin: Sinner closed the tie break 7 to 2. And if, at the beginning of the third set, Cilic held firm by returning the break as soon as suffered on 1 to zero, the South Tyrolean on 3 all weakened the last resistances, going to win 6-3. The 2 hours and 43 minutes of play were of great intensity and, at times, of a high level, with Sinner showing – once more – personality and power.
Reassured by the success in the second singles, always encouraged by the generous audience of the Pala Alpitour, Italy tried to believe it. Captain Filippo Volandri lined up Sinner alongside Fabio Fognini but Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic lived up to their fame right from the start. The Azzurri have not even had a break point, the result has never been in question. And so the mini band of a group of Croatian fans, active all afternoon in the stands, could play even louder, on that last ace from Pavic. For Italy, the race ended sooner than expected, as happened to Spain. However, the awareness of a young group remains, which can grow and give a lot, especially with the return of Matteo Berrettini.