Italy beat Germany 3-0 to qualify for the Billie Jean King Cup semi-finals yesterday a result which eliminated Group D rivals France. Martina Trevisan battled past Eva Lys 7-6 (8/6), 6-1 in the opening rubber before Jasmine Paolini eased past Anna-Lena Friedsam 6-3, 6-2 to ensure the Italians return to the last four for the first time since 2014.
Debutant Lucia Bronzetti and Elisabetta Cocciaretto completed the Italian rout with a 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 win over Friedsam and Laura Siegemund in the doubles. Italy, who beat France 2-1 on Wednesday, finish top of the three-team group. The first in each of the four groups advance to the semi-finals, scheduled for tomorrow, before the final on Sunday.
Australia, runners-up in the 2022 final to Switzerland, beat Kazakhstan 2-1 to notch up their first win of the tournament after losing to Slovenia on Wednesday. Storm Hunter gave the Australians their first point against Anna Danilina 7-6 (7/2), 6-4. Yulia Putintseva pulled Kazakhstan level with a 6-0, 7-5 win over Kimberley Birrell.
The doubles, with the same players, made the difference with Australia winning a super tie-break 6-1, 4-6, 1-0 (10/5). The final tie in Group B sees Kazakhstan take on group leaders Slovenia today.
Djokovic faces Sinner,
Tsitsipas and Rune at ATP Finals
Novak Djokovic will take on Jannik Sinner, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Holger Rune in the group stage of the ATP Finals as the world number one chases a seventh season-ending triumph. Title holder Djokovic is looking to cap another memorable year in which he has won three Grand Slams, taking his tally to an all-time record of 24, and leads the Green Group. The 36-year-old comes into the tournament, which runs over November 12-19 in Turin, on a high after claiming a record-extending seventh Paris Masters title.
Victory in the French capital, where he also won this year at Roland Garros, was his 40th Masters 1000 title and stretched his winning run to 18 matches. In the other group, world number two Carlos Alcaraz faces Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev and will be hoping to put on a better show than he did in Paris as he makes his Finals debut.
The Spaniard, already a two-time Grand Slam champion at the age of 20, was dumped out by Russian qualifier Roman Safiullin last week after returning from an injury lay-off.
ATP Finals groups
Singles: Green Group: Novak Djokovic (SRB); Jannik Sinner (ITA); Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE); Holger Rune (DEN)
Red Group: Carlos Alcaraz (ESP); Daniil Medvedev (RUS); Andrey Rublev (RUS); Alexander Zverev (GER)
Doubles: Green Group: Ivan Dodig (CRO)/Austin Krajicek (USA); Santiago Gonzalez (MEX)/Edouardo Roder-Vasselin (ARG); Marcel Granollers (ESP)/Horacio Zabellos (ARG); Maximo Gonzalez (ARG)/Andres Molteni (ARG)
Red Group: Wesley Koolhof (NED)/Neal Skupski (GBR); Rohan Bopanna (IND)/Matthew Ebden (AUS); Rajeev Ram (USA)/Jose Salisbury (GBR); Rinky Hijikata (AUS)/Jason Kubler (AUS)