The mental toughness of Botic van de Zandschulp gave the Netherlands the first point after coming back from a good encounter against Matteo Arnaldi (6-7, 6-3 and 7-6) in almost three hours of play, so Italy depends on world number four, Jannik Sinner, to remain standing in the Davis Cup Finals to be held in Malaga.
The first set of the highest parity delighted the fans present at the Martín Carpena Palace in the third quarterfinal tie. The loudest were the Italians, although the big orange stain of the Dutch fans added decibels between point and point and more in the final victory.
Arnaldi couldn’t get away from the stubborn Van de Zandschulpboth respond to all kinds of good actions: forehands, lobs, direct serves or climbs to the net.
So, between exchanges of points, the first set was settled in a tie-break at 6-6 and, in sudden death, it had to go to 8-6 for Arnaldi to clench his fist and score the first (7- 6).
The game, however, will be long. In fact, the longest we’ve had in the tournament. The Dutchman, who needed an immediate reaction, went straight for the return and closed the score 6-3 to force the final set.
With 3-1 down for Italy, Arnaldi brings out his forehand to put some key balls on the line and turn the situation around (4-3). The transalpine fans were on fire and with it almost all of Martín Carpena.
The Netherlands is one of the teams to be reckoned with in the Davis Cup because of its competitiveness and leveland Van de Zandschulp was no exception, so he sent the match again at 6-6 and another tie-break.
In the tiebreaker game, Arnaldi made a mistake and wasted two match points and the Dutch tennis player achieved a comeback for his country.
In the second round there will be a battle of the number one, with Jannik Sinner in Italy and Tallon Griekspoor in the Netherlands. Italy, the theoretical favorites along with Serbia, just need a comeback like the Finns and Australians did in the first days of the competition.
Source: La Verdad
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