Spain set up Davis Cup final showdown with Italy

After defeating Germany in a decisive doubles match to reach their first final in six years, Spain will face Italy, who are two-time defending champions, in the Davis Cup final.

Jan-Lennard Struff defeated Pablo Carreno Busta to give Spain a first-place finish in the opening singles.

However, Alexander Zverev, the third-ranked German, won the tie in the end.

Marcel Granollers and Pedro Martinez defeated Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz 6-2, 3 3-6, 6-3, to reach their third quarter-final match against the Czech Republic.

Given that Carlos Alcaraz is out injured, the final for six-time champion Spain is a particularly pleasant one.

Italy defeated Belgium on Friday for the third time in a row, winning both Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti, who are both missing from the world rankings.

After last meeting in the 2006 World Group play-offs when team captains David Ferrer and Filippo Volandri both participated, Spain and Italy will now face off in their first Davis Cup match of the year.

Spain’s captain Ferrer remarked, “I am really proud of my players, who worked so hard to be here.

We are very excited, but we need to rest and prepare for the final.

This week’s high-stakes matches between Spain and Germany’s doubles pairings had already taken place, but Krawietz and Puetz came out on top in more dramatic circumstances, saving three match points to complete Germany’s comeback against Argentina shortly after 1am local time.

In the opening set, Granollers and Martinez were dominant, quickly extending their 4-0 lead, but Krawietz and Puetz’s one break of serve in the second set made the decision impossible.

However, the Spanish duo came out on top in the final game, breaking up with love and holding on for victory at every chance.

With a 6-4 7-6 (8-6) victory over Struff, Carreno Busta had given Spain the perfect opening.

The 89th-ranked Carreno Busta had to rally from 6-1 down in the tie-break after failing to take his first three match points on Struff’s serve at 5-4 in the second set, 5-4.

Zverev, the only top-10 singles player competing in the Finals this year, claimed he had not felt well in the run-up to the tie 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-5).

The out-of-sorts German made 28 unforced errors while maintaining consistency when it was necessary to defeat world number 36 Munar in both tie-breaks.