A dominant Jannik Sinner outclassed Australia’s Alex de Minaur to help Italy secure their first Davis Cup title for 47 years.
Matteo Arnaldi beat Alexei Popyrin 7-5 2-6 6-4 in a nervy opening singles match to put Italy 1-0 up in the tie in Malaga, Spain.
Sinner then backed up his sterling week with a 6-3 6-0 win over De Minaur.
“It has been an incredible feeling for all of us, obviously we are really happy,” Sinner said afterwards.
It is the second time Italy have lifted the Davis Cup trophy, having previously won the title in 1976.
There were scenes of jubilation as the Italy team flooded on the court to celebrate with Sinner, who raised his arms in the air after De Minaur’s backhand skewed wide to ensure victory.
Australia were bidding for a 29th Davis Cup title but have now lost back-to-back finals, having been beaten by Canada last year.
Sinner oozes class to secure victory
Italy arrived for the final eight with some expectation around them, largely thanks to Sinner’s recent stellar form.
The 22-year-old has lost just three of his past 23 matches, winning titles in Montpellier, Toronto, Beijing and Vienna, and beat world number one Novak Djokovic in the ATP Finals round-robin stages prior to the tournament.
World number four Sinner had already starred for Italy on Saturday, saving three match points against Djokovic to level the tie against Serbia before partnering Lorenzo Sonego to victory in the doubles to book Italy’s final spot.
Sinner set out his intentions early against De Minaur, breaking in the third game before converting his second set point when the Australian overhit a lob.
A ruthless performance in the second set gave De Minaur no hope of a comeback as he struggled on serve, while Sinner revelled in the support from a raucous crowd.
It was a relentless performance from Sinner, who faced just one break point in the match and converted five of his own 10 opportunities.
Earlier on Sunday, Arnaldi had got Italy off to a dream start against Popyrin in a tense first singles match.
In a tricky opening set, both players exchanged breaks of serve as Popyrin, ranked 40th in the world, saved set points but was wasteful with his own opportunities, handing the Italian the first set when he pushed a return into the net.
However the Australian found his rhythm in the second set, racing to a double break before serving out to force a decider.
But the nerves that seemed to have dissipated in the second set returned in the third as Popyrin squandered eight break points before Arnaldi seized his moment on Popyrin’s serve, converting his first set point to give Italy a dream start.
“I won one of the most important matches in my life, I don’t know what to say right now,” an emotional Arnaldi said on court after his victory.
