Italy faces Australia today in Malaga in the Davis Cup semi-final. The Azzurri beat the Australians in last year’s final. Captain Hewitt has de Minaur, Popyrin and Kokkinakis as single players. The doubles players are Ebden and Thompson.
L’Italia returns to the field today for the semi-final of Davis Cup. In Malaga, after defeating Argentina 2-1, the Azzurri led by captain Volandri will challenge Australia, beaten in the final last year. Italy starts as favourites, but must pay attention to the Australian team, compact and full of good players. Even if number 1 Alex de Minaur with Sinner he always lost, eight out of eight. The key will be the first singles, which will involve one of the players Kokkinakis e Popyrin against Berrettini or Musetti. The double is made up of specialists Ebden e Thompson.
Who is de Minaur, Australia’s number one tennis player
We know everything about Alex de Minaur. First of all because this year he entered the top ten and was also a protagonist at the ATP Finals, or rather he participated in the Finals: because he lost three out of three matches. The Australian number 1, nicknamed the ‘Demon‘, he is certainly a first-tier player, but he is also known because he had the misfortune of finding Sinner on his path very often: in the Toronto 2023 final, Rotterdam 2024 and at the Finals a few days ago. But also in the 2023 Davis final. Eight challenges and eight victories for Sinner, who left few games to his opponent.
Who is Popyrin, the surprise Australian 1000m champion
Alexei Popyrin is technically not predestined. Born in 1999, he is certainly a good player, but this year he found the week of his life in Canada, where he won, in Montreal, the first 1000 title of his career. A result as sensational as it was exceptional for Popyrin who managed to reach his peak last summer, rising to number 23. He beat Machac, Korda, Hurkacz, Shelton, Dimitrov and in the final Rublev. And at the US Open he also defeated Djokovic. In Davis, however, he lost the first singles of the 2023 final against Arnaldi.
Italy-Australia today in the Davis Cup semi-final, what time does Sinner play: times and where to see it on TV and streaming
Kokkinakis’ joy after the success over Shelton in the Davis Cup.
Kokkinakis, Lleyton Hewitt’s extra man
And then there is Thanasi Kokkinakis, who when he appeared on the circuit seemed destined for a great career and was, also for reasons due to his origins, defined as Kyrgios’ twin. Many injuries have held him back, but he is capable of great feats. A few years ago he beat Roger Federer in the Miam tournamenti, and he was still a super Federer. With a lot of itch he took home the singles match against Shelton on Thursday, and could be taken into consideration by Hewitt.
Matthew Ebden and Jordan Thompson gave Australia a 2-1 win against the United States.
Who are Ebden and Thompson, the Australian doubles tennis players
The Australians have a legendary tradition in doubles. Matthew Ebden and Jordan Thompson are two true specialists. It is enough to say that the former won the 2024 Australian Open (with Bopanna) and the latter the US Open (with compatriot Purcell, out due to injury) and reached the final at Wimbledon in 2024, to make it clear how dangerous they are. In short, getting to 1 would be very dangerous.
Source: www.fanpage.it
