STARNBERG, September 12, 2024
Host nations Great Britain, Italy and Spain all began their Davis Cup Finals Group Stage campaigns with victories on Wednesday. A pair of singles wins was enough for each of the triumphant teams, with Great Britain overcoming Finland, Italy battling past Brazil and Spain defeating Czechia.
Matteo-Day 🇮🇹
Two wins from Matteo Berrettini and Matteo Arnaldi give Italy a 2-1 tie victory over Brazil in Bologna! 🔥#DavisCup pic.twitter.com/4psZil0wSI
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) September 11, 2024
“It was a great, great feeling. I’ve been missing this kind of feeling for so long for so many reasons,” said Matteo Berrettini of Italy. “The Davis Cup, the tournament in Rome, it felt like almost a first time. But at the same time, I’m not young as Joao, so I knew what to expect from the match and how to start, how to focus on important things. And I think that was obviously the key for the first set. And yeah, I’m just so, so happy to be here, to perform, to enjoy the atmosphere.”
Briton Dan Evans said: “He was playing so freely in the first set and I did well to weather the storm and find a way to win. That’s what you have to do in the Davis Cup. I’ve enjoyed every Davis Cup tie I’ve played in. The early days were fun when we weren’t very good! We got some big wins and there were so many more after that.”
Earlier, USA beat Chile 3-0 in Zhuhai in the first tie where all three matches were decided in final-set tiebreaks since the Davis Cup Finals were introduced in 2019.
RESULTS DAY 2
Group A – Italy defeated Brazil 2-1
Unipol Arena, Bologna, Italy
Matteo Berrettini (ITA) d. Joao Fonseca (BRA) 6-1 7-6(5)
Matteo Arnaldi (ITA) d. Thiago Monteiro (BRA) 7-5 6-7(4) 7-6(5)
Rafael Matos/Marcelo Melo (BRA) d. Simone Bolelli/Andrea Vavassori (ITA) 6-7(3) 7-6(6) 7-5
Group B – Spain defeated Czechia 3-0
Pabellon Municipal Fuente de San Luis, Valencia, Spain
Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) d. Jiri Lehecka (CZE) 7-6(1) 6-4
Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) d. Tomas Machac (CZE) 6-7(3) 6-1 0-0 ret.
Carlos Alcaraz/Marcel Granollers (ESP) d. Jakub Mensik/Adam Pavlasek (CZE) 6-7(2) 6-3 7-6(2)
Group C – USA defeated Chile 3-0
Henqin International Tennis Center, Zhuhai, China, P.R.
Reilly Opelka (USA) d. Cristian Garin (CHI) 6-3 4-6 7-6(3)
Brandon Nakashima (USA) d. Alejandro Tabilo (CHI) 7-6(5) 2-6 7-6(3)
Austin Krajicek/Rajeev Ram (USA) d. Tomas Barrios Vera/Matias Soto (CHI) 4-6 6-4 7-6(3)
Group D – Great Britain defeated Finland 2-1
AO Arena, Manchester, Great Britain
Daniel Evans (GBR) d. Eero Vasa (FIN) 7-6(3) 6-2
Billy Harris (GBR) d. Otto Virtanen (FIN) 6-4 7-6(4)
Harri Heliovaara/Otto Virtanen (FIN) d. Daniel Evans/Neal Skupski (GBR) 7-6(4) 7-5
