Bolelli/Fognini Hold Nerve To Keep Italy's Davis Cup Dream Alive
Bolelli/Fognini Hold Nerve To Keep Italy’s Davis Cup Dream Alive
Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini kept alive Italy’s hopes of a first Davis Cup title since 1976 on Thursday in Malaga, where the doubles duo edged Tommy Paul and Jack Sock 6-4, 6-4 to clinch a hard-fought quarter-final win against the USA.
Bolleli and Fognini, who have lifted five tour-level titles together, including two this season, clinched the only break of serve in each set in the decisive doubles match to give Italy a 2-1 victory against the 32-time champions.
“I am really happy, I am here with my ‘brother’ and we played really well,” Fognini told daviscup.com after helping Italy reach the semi-finals of the team event for the first time since 2014.
“I am happy for me, for Fabio, for the team,” added Bolelli. “It was really tough, but it is great to be through to the semi-finals.”
Bolelli and Fognini’s doubles heroics came after the two teams had split an engrossing pair of singles rubbers in Spain. Lorenzo Sonego downed Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 7-6(7) to give Italy the early advantage, while there was also a nerve-wracking tie-break in the second match between Lorenzo Musetti and Taylor Fritz. The American saved two set points in the first set before wrapping a 7-6(8), 6-3 win to level the tie, but Fritz’s win was ultimately in vain as Bolelli and Fognini held firm in the doubles.
Italy’s semi-final opponent will be decided in the Thursday evening quarter-final clash between Canada and Germany. Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov spearhead the Canadian team, with Jan-Lennard Struff and Oscar Otte the nominated singles players for Germany.
What is the format for the 2022 Davis Cup Finals?
The group stage of the 2022 Davis Cup by Rakuten Finals took place across four cities — Bologna, Glasgow, Hamburg and Valencia — from 13-18 September. Sixteen nations competed in four round-robin groups of four teams. The top two teams in each group advanced to the knock-out stage. The knock-out stage is taking place in Malaga this week, with the final on Sunday.