Davis Cup: Spain to Face Italy In the Final

Spain will play Italy in the Davis Cup final after winning a tight doubles match against Germany. This will be Spain’s first final in six years.

Pablo Carreño Busta gave Spain an early lead by beating Jan-Lennard Struff in the first singles match.

German world number three Alexander Zverev then defeated Jaume Munar, which levelled the tie and sent it to a deciding doubles match.

Marcel Granollers and Pedro Martínez, who also helped Spain win their quarter-final on Thursday, were strong once again. They beat Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz 6-2 3-6 6-3.

Spain, who have won the Davis Cup six times, are in their first final since 2019. Their run is even more impressive because world number one Carlos Alcaraz is out with injury.

They will face Italy, the home team, in Bologna on Sunday at 14:00 GMT.

Italy, who are also missing top players Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti, reached their third straight final after beating Belgium on Friday.

This will be the first Davis Cup meeting between Spain and Italy in 19 years. The last time they played was in 2006, when current captains David Ferrer and Filippo Volandri were still players.

Spain captain Ferrer said: “I am really proud of my players. They have fought hard to get here. We are excited, but we need to rest and prepare for the final. Italy have very good players. They are missing Jannik and Lorenzo, and we are without Carlos, but I am sure it will be a good match.”

Both doubles teams had already faced high-pressure matches this week. Krawietz and Puetz had even saved three match points in their dramatic win over Argentina earlier in the week.

Granollers and Martínez started strongly, taking a 4-0 lead in the first set. Krawietz and Puetz hit back in the second set with one break of serve, forcing a decider.

But the Spanish team finished the match better. They broke serve to love early in the final set and held on to win.

Earlier, Carreño Busta had put Spain ahead with a 6-4 7-6 (8-6) win over Struff. He missed three match points at 5-4 in the second set, then had to come back from 6-1 down in the tie-break to win.

Zverev, the only top-10 singles player in this year’s Finals, said he had not been feeling well before his match. He still won 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-5) despite making 28 unforced errors, finding his rhythm when it mattered most.

Germany’s defeat in the doubles means they will have to wait longer for their first Davis Cup final since 1993.