Melbourne (AFP)
Teams from Russia, winning Germany 2-1 in the semi-finals, and Italy, winning Spain 3-0, qualified on Saturday in Melbourne for the ATP Cup final, where they were will contest the succession of Serbia who won the 1st edition in 2020.
Italy's victory, led by its two best players Matteo Berrettini and Fabio Fognini, No. 10 and 17 in the world, was amplified by the withdrawal of the pair of Spanish doubles.
The stake of the third match was indeed zero, as Matteo Berrettini had beaten Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 7-5, and Fabio Fognini had dominated Pablo Carreno Busta 6-2, 1-6, 6-4, giving a lead irreversible to Italy.
The Spaniards had to play without their leader, world No.2 Rafael Nadal, who suffers from back pain.
"I could not play (the competition, editor's note) last year, so I am very happy that we reached the final for my first participation," said Berrettini.
"But the job is not finished," warned the Italian.
In the other semi-final, the Russians also made the decision in the singles.
In a clash between top 10 players, Daniil Medvedev (N.4) beat Alexander Zverev (N.7) in three sets 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Andrey Rublev (N.8) also had to fight against Jan-Lennard Struff (N.37), finally dominated 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.
"We both had difficult matches, and lost the first set," Medvedev commented at a press conference.
"It was not easy, because we had two days off before the game," he added.
The victory of Struff and his compatriot Kevin Krawietz in doubles, 6-3, 7-6 (7/2) against the pair Evgeny Donskoy / Aslan Karatsev allowed the Germans to register a point, insufficient to deprive their opponents of the final.
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