Djokovic was booed: he lost to Sinner and in doubles. But you won’t have to skydive.

Djokovic was booed: he lost to Sinner and in doubles. But you won’t have to skydive.

Alexander Nasonov November 25, 2023, 22:25 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.

Tomorrow Yannick and his compatriots will try to win the country’s second Davis Cup. The first was taken 47 years ago.

On Saturday, November 25, the second Davis Cup semi-final match took place, taking place in Malaga (Spain). Italy and Serbia fought for second place in the decisive matchup. Individual matches were won by representatives of different teams. First, Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic defeated Italian Lorenzo Musetti, achieving a resounding victory 6:7 (7:9), 6:2, 6:1.

And then the real drama happened. Novak Djokovic, the 24-time Grand Slam champion, in his third match in the last week and a half with world number four Jannik Sinner, missed a triple match point and lost. Read more about this in a separate article.

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Djokovic gave up 3 match points and lost to Sinner. He lost for the first time in 12 years in the Davis Cup

After this, Djokovic and Sinner rested a little and entered the doubles match, in which their partners were Kecmanovic and Lorenzo Sonego, respectively. It was in this game that it was decided who would play in the final, so the teams could not do without their leaders.

In the first set, the sixth game was key. Nothing boded problems for Djokovic and Kecmanovic: the Serbs started 30-0 on serve. But Sinner and Sonego in this situation managed to reach a breaking point and converted it. This was the only break point in the entire match. Serving the set at 5:3, the Italian pair lost only one point (Sinner finished with an ace): 6:3 in 36 minutes.

At the beginning of the second game, the tennis players took the game on serve and then exchanged breaks for 2:2. The Italians started the sixth game with 0:40, but at the cost of an incredible effort they saved themselves and won a total of four break points (3:3). During this match, Djokovic was booed by the fans and he “led” them.

Novak Djokovic leads fans at Davis Cup 2023

Photo: frame of the transmission.

Everything was decided in the seventh game, taken by Sinner and Sonego from the second break point. Serving for the match at 5:4, the Italians escaped a break point, after which they took advantage of the first match point: 6:3, 6:4 in 1 hour and 36 minutes.

Recall that in one of the press conferences during the tournament, the Serbs, led by captain Viktor Troicki and Djokovic, promised that if they win the Davis Cup, the entire team will parachute. This way they won’t have to.

This is how Italy reached the final of the Davis Cup for the first time since 1998. The national team of this country won the title only once, in 1976. And in the final there were as many as six defeats.

In the current final, the rival of the Italians will be the Australian team, which in its semifinal defeated Finland, which became, perhaps, the main sensation of this draw. The Finns reached the top 4 of the Davis Cup for the first time in history. As for the Australians, they won the title 28 times (including the performance of the Australasian team at the beginning of the 20th century).

The captain of the Australian team is the well-known Lleyton Hewitt, two-time Grand Slam champion and former world number one. In 1999 and 2003, Hewitt won the Davis Cup as a player and is now trying to do the same as coach of his local team.

The main star of the team is Alex de Minaur, 24 years old, twelfth racket in the world. In the playoffs of this Davis Cup, De Miñaur won both of his matches: in the quarterfinals with the Czech Jiri Legecka and in the semifinals with the Finnish Emil Ruusuvuori. Well, the Australian of Russian origin Alexey Popyrin can also be very useful. Thus, in the semi-finals he defeated Otto Virtanen.

Tomorrow we will know if Hewitt and company will be able to take the decisive step towards the title. The 2023 Davis Cup final between Australia and Italy will be played on Sunday, November 26. Follow all the events of the “Championship”.