Gojo and Croatian doubles kick Italy out of Turin Finals

Croatia demonstrated yesterday at the Pala Alpitour in Turin that it has the team to fight even to win the Salad Bowl three years after winning the last title of the old Davis Cup. It cannot be said that they beat Italy (2-1) against the odds, because they have Marin Cilic and the best doubles pair in the world, the one formed by Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic. But what perhaps no one expected is that Borna Gojo, 23 years old and 279 in the world, would become the hero of the Balkan team by winning 7-6 (2), 2-6 and 6-2 against the local idol, the Turin Lorenzo Sonego (27).

After this opening suit, Sinner gave local fans hope with his epic triumph (3-6, 7-6 (4) and 6-3), against the Croatian number one, a Cilic who failed again as he had done on Sunday against the Hungarian Piros. Again, Mektic (two in the ranking) and Pavic (one) came to the rescue, and they could (6-3 and 6-4) with Sinner, more than worthy, and with Fognini, out of shape.

The match in pairs is the lethal weapon of Croatia, whose captain, Vedran Martic, seems to have hit the key for his more modest players give a performance above the expected. Serdarusic (242) did so against Maruzsan in the series against Hungary and Gojo had already surprised Australian Popyrin on Thursday. Italy had a major disappointment at home because they entered the competition with the favorite band. The Balkans make up for their poor performance in 2019, when they lost both heats in the group stage, and They await a rival for their fifth semifinal in the competition: Serbia or Kazakhstan.

Davis Cup results.