ITALY has battled to a 2-1 win over the United States, whilst Spain and Serbia have cleaned up with 3-0 victories despite some close contests. Here is our 2021 Davis Cup Finals day two wrap.

ITALY (2) defeated USA (1)

Italy got its group stage campaign off to the perfect start at home in Turin, with a nice win over seeded side, United States. Taking care of business in the two singles, the Italians were not as fazed by the doubles, with the USA grabbing a crucial match win. Despite being without Matteo Berrettini who missed the tournament with an abdominal injury he suffered at the same venue during the ATP Finals, Lorenzo Sonego and Jannik Sinner secured the win.

Sonego was up first taking down big-serving Reilly Opelka, grinding out a 6-3 7-6 victory. He won 7-4 in the second set tiebreak to get the European nation off to the perfect start, winning 90 an 74 per cent of his first and second serve points off a 65 per cent clip. Opelka still served 12 aces and won 81 and 70 per cent off his serve, but could not break the Italian.

It was a much more one-sided contest between Sinner and John Isner, with the Italian taking one of the ATP Tour’s biggest servers to the cleaners. Normally incredibly difficult to break, it became a case of fans wondering when Isner would hold serve. He only did it twice in the end, as Sinner broke five times from nine chances, and only dropped a remarkable three points on serve. It was an incredible performance from the young gun, who never looked like losing the clash.

Meanwhile the specialist doubles player in Rajeev Ram was able to team up with Jack Sock to win 7-6 6-2 over Fabio Fognini and Lorenzo Musetti. The Italians just opted to give their others singles players court time, and the Americans needed the win more which is the way it went in 93 minutes. Ram and Sock served the only six aces of the match and broke twice in the second set after a tight 7-5 first set tiebreak, giving the nation hope ahead of the final group match.

GROUP E RESULTS:

Lorenzo Sonego (ITA) defeated Reilly Opelka (USA) 6-3 7-6
Jannik Sinner (ITA) defeated John Isner (USA) 6-2 6-0
R. Ram/J. Sock (USA) defeated F. Fognini/L. Musetti (ITA) 7-6 6-2

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SERBIA (3) defeated AUSTRIA (0)

Serbia has swept Austria to win its first group match stage and put the nation with the world number one, in best position to advance. With Austria missing top star Dominic Thiem it was always going to be an uphill battle, though Gerald Melzer pushed Serbian number two Dusan Lajovic in three sets. After narrowly dropping the first set 7-5 in a tiebreaker, Melzer claimed the second set, then pushed Lajovic all the way before the Serbian won, 7-6 3-6 7-5 in two hours and 41 minutes. Lajovic won 76 per cent of his first serve points and despite losing two more points than Melzer, still stood up in crucial moments to all but secure the tie.

The second singles is always the most important for Serbia, with the number one singles all but won before the players step out on court. World number one Novak Djokovic had a nice smooth ride to a straight sets win, getting up 6-3 6-2 Dennis Novak who has had to step up to Austria’s number one singles billing. Djokovic served three aces to two and only dropped six points on serve, as he broke three times during the 57-minute victory.

With the win in the bank, Serbia opted not to use Djokovic again and instead handed Filip Krajinovic and Nikola Cacic the reigns in the doubles against Oliver Marach and Philipp Oswald. Despite Cacic being ranked 36th in the world for doubles, the Austrian pairing were specialist doubles players at 45th and 52nd respectively. Despite this, Cacic helped guide the nation to an upset win, holding firm in the first set tiebreaker 7-4, and whilst Serbia dropped the second set, regained control to win 7-6 4-6 6-3 in two hours and six minutes.

GROUP F RESULTS:

Dusan Lajovic (SRB) defeated Gerald Melzer (AUT) 7-6 3-6 7-5
Novak Djokovic (SRB) defeated Dennis Novak (AUT) 6-3 6-2
N. Cacic/F. Krajinovic (SRB) defeated O. Marach/P. Oswald (AUT) 7-6 4-6 6-3

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SPAIN (3) defeated ECUADOR (0)

Despite a spirited effort from underdogs Ecuador, reigning champions Spain got off to a strong start in Group A. The Spanish were without not only Rafael Nadal, but also young gun Carlos Alcaraz who was a late withdrawal. It started off perfectly however, as Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez claimed a straight sets win over the lowly ranked Roberto Quiroz, 6-3 6-3. Lopez won in one hour and 18 minutes, serving 14 aces to one and breaking three times to nil during the match. He was far stronger off his first serve with a 74 to 66 per cent success rate from a 74 to 65 per cent clip.

Despite being ranked 129 places higher than his opponent, Pablo Carreno Busta only escaped with a nail-biting win over world 149, Emilio Gomez. Dropping the first set in a shock, Carreno Busta had to fight tooth-and-nail for the victory, eventually getting up, 5-7 6-3 7-6. The match lasted two hours and 36 minutes, with Carreno Busta hitting four more winners (21-17), but also seven more unforced errors (55-48).

Carreno Busta was about to have another nail-biter, this time teaming up with doubles player Marcel Granollers against Ecuador pairing Gonzalo Escobar and Diego Hidalgo. Despite being heavy favourites in the match, the Spanish duo had to battle through successive tiebreakers before winning 6-4 6-7 7-6 in two hours and 41 minutes. They looked gone midway through the third set after being broken, but Spain broke back to level the decider and then run away with the 7-2 tiebreaker win. They hit 56 winners to 43 in the match, and only had four more unforced errors (38-34).

GROUP A RESULTS:

Feliciano Lopez (ESP) defeated Roberto Quiroz (ECU) 6-3 6-3
Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) defeated Emilio Gomez (ECU) 5-7 6-3 7-6
P. Carreno Busta/M. Granollers (ESP) defeated G. Escobar/D. Hidalgo (ECU) 6-4 6-7 7-6