Italy Moves One Win Closer To Davis Cup Three-Peat

Flavio Cobolli
Flavio Cobolli (photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images for ITF)

BOLOGNA/WASHINGTON, November 19, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

Coming into their Davis Cup Final 8 quarterfinal tie against Austria at SuperTennis Arena in Bologna on Wednesday, the big question on everyone’s minds – players, fans, media – was a simple one: Can two-time defending champions Italy three-peat without Jannik Sinner? 

After facing underdog Austria with World No. 22 Flavio Cobolli stepping up to play at No. 1 singles instead of Sinner or World No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti, the simple answer is: Yes. This team has tremendous talent and depth – and an experienced team captain who seems to get the most out of his players.

Besides Cobolli, the defending champions have a pretty deep bench that also includes: No. 39 Lorenzo Sonego and No. 56 Matteo Berrettini, and the World No. 7 doubles pair in Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori. The Italians brought an 11-match winning streak into their tie against Austria, which had won four straight and were appearing in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup for the first time since 2012. Now, make it 12 straight wins for the Azzurri after they defeated Austria 2-0 to advance to play Belgium in the semifinal round on Friday.

As it turned out, Berrettini got the nod to play at No. 2 singles against Austria’s 177th-ranked Jurij Rodionov and fought back from 2-5 down in the second set to pull out a 6-3, 7-6 (4) victory in an hour and 46 minutes. He outpointed his opponent 57-47.

Then, Team Italy turned things over to Cobolli, who easily beat No. 79 Filip Misolic at No. 1 singles, 6-1, 6-3, in just 65 minutes, in back of eight aces and a pretty solid service game.

“In the end it’s better for us, but we are still the underdog in that tie,” Austria team captain Jürgen Melzer said Monday during his team’s pre-tournament news conference, commenting on the absence of Sinner and Musetti. “If you look at the players that Italy has and the players that could replace them, they’re still ranked ahead of our top player. I would say the chances rose a little bit. In the end, yeah, we need to do our job as good as we can.”

After the double loss, which eliminated Austria, Melzer said: “It has been two completely different matches. The last one was unfortunately very one-sided. The first one I think was a very good match from both players. Just decided by acouple of points.”

Meanwhile, Italy team captain Filippo Volandri has been in a good, upbeat mood all week. During his team’s pre-tournament meet and greet with media, he addressed the topic of being the Davis Cup Final 8 favorites. “Well, things are going in a good way,” he said. “Obviously, we feel more responsibility this year. 

“Actually, after the two victories in 2023 and 2024, we feel now the responsibility to have it here in Italy. This is not pressure, it’s just responsibility. 

“We used to have it, so we are looking forward to start this competition.”

After advancing to the semifinals without having to go to a doubles decider, he said: “I’m really happy how they managed the tough situation, especially Matteo’s match. It is something that you don’t learn. Especially when you go Love-40, that kind of games, they make the difference in the end.

“They both did it. I’m really happy and proud for that.”

Cobolli was asked if he feels that as the highest-ranked singles player on the Italian team that it’s his responsibility to be a team leader. “No, actually I am the younger also,” the 23-year-old from Florence said. “I’m not the leader, for sure, of this team. We are all the leader. 

“We have a great relationship [with] each other. We [are] trying to help each other every moment during the day. My team, we are all leaders on this team.”

With the absence of Sinner and Musetti, it’s given the 29-year-old Berrettini from Rome, currently ranked 56th, a chance to be a part of the Italian Davis Cup Final 8 squad.

“It’s always been a great pleasure, great honor being part of the team,” Berrettini said. “The captain always knew it. I used the Davis Cup as a goal to come back when I was injured, feeling the love of the guys. 

“Everybody texted me when I wasn’t feeling my best, helped me a lot. I’m really happy here to represent Italy once again.

“Hopefully, we’re going to have a good run as well this year. But we know that every match, it’s tough. Like the Captain [Filippo Volandri] said, David Cup is full of surprises. We have to be ready. We have to be focused. Ranking doesn’t really matter. I think it’s all about wanting to win the match and the tie and think about the next point. I hope we are ready for that.”

Davis Cup news & noteworthy

Just a few days removed from competing at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, Germany’s Alexander Zverev is back on court this week representing his home country in the Davis Cup Final 8. The World No. 3 from Hamburg will play No. 1 singles against Francisco Cerundolo when the Germans face Argentina in the quarterfinal round on Thursday evening.

There have been many players in the past who have used a great Davis Cup run toward the end of the season as a good springboard toward the next season. During Germany’s pre-tournament news conference Tuesday, Zverev was asked if he feels that a great run here might serve him well as a good start to the upcoming 2026 season. 

“Well, of course, I hope to circle down the path of Jannik and those guys the last couple of years,” said Zverev, making reference to Jannik Sinner leading Italy to consecutive Davis Cup titles.

“I think everybody had a long year. Everybody had a long season. I’m very happy to be with this team. We have a great team. I think we’re all looking forward to competing here.”

Joining Zverev on Team Germany this week are Jan-Lenard Struff and Yannick Hanfmann in singles, and doubles partners Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz.

“Yeah, to be honest, I think we have great chances in the upcoming matches. Hopefully, we can prove that.”

Germany’s path to winning this year’s Davis Cup title starts with the Argentina quarterfinal. If they win, they would face either Spain or Czechia in the semifinals on Saturday. The other side of the bracket includes Belgium, which has already eliminated France, as well as Italy and Austria.

Wednesday’s Davis Cup Final 8 results

Thursday’s Davis Cup Final 8 schedule

By the numbers

Wednesday’s Italy-Austria tie marked the seventh meeting between the two nations. However, it’s their first in 35 years. Between 1930 and 1972, Italy won the first five meetings with Austria. However, the Austrians claimed their only win over the Italians to date in their most-recent meeting before this week, winning 5-0 in the 1990 World Group quarterfinals in Vienna. Austria’s semifinal finish that season remains their best Davis Cup result.

“Quotable …”

“He came in and he came on the court with confidence. He played the way he used to play. I was expecting it.

“I didn’t do as good of a job as he did. … I didn’t play too good the first service game in each set, so I got broken. It took me time to find a way. I kind of found a way. At the end, it slipped away in the second set from my hands. …

“It’s a quick format. I’m sad for the three guys that didn’t play tonight in our team.”

– Arthur Rinderknech of France, during his post-match news conference Tuesday, after losing in straight sets to Zizou Bergs of Belgium, which ended the quarterfinal tie in favor of Belgium 2-0.

 

Search

Brigitte Urban
Tennis photographer
camera lens

International Blogs

Florian Heer

Björn Kroll beim Hamburg Ladies & Gents Cup: “Wir möchten unseren Spielern eine gute Plattform bieten!”

October 26, 2025

Michael Dickens

The Warrior: Rafael Nadal And His Kingdom Of Clay

May 16, 2025

Podcast

Categories