Italy are back at the Martin Carpena arena to defend the Davis Cup title from last year. With Sinner leading the way, as the best player in the world right now, the Italians are once again favorites to lift the trophy. Team Italy has won their last 8 Davis Cup ties and are not looking to stop.
First challenge in Malaga is Argentina, which have some players in fine form, but can they compete with the Italians on these hard-courts?
Italy, strongest team on paper
Jannik Sinner needs no further introduction but he’s not the only one that stands out in this Italian team. Captain Filippo Volandri has some hard choices to make as both Lorenzo Musetti and Matteo Berrettini has shown this season what they are capable of. Berrettini might not have found the form yet we saw earlier, but it should be interesting to see his powerful serve and forehands on these courts.
The doubles team with Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori looks very solid and they reached the final of both the Australian Open and French Open this season.
Argentina looks strong for the singles matches and it will be interesting to see the choices of captain Guillermo Coria here. Etcheverry and Cerundolo played great tennis in their defeat of Great Britain to reach the Malaga finals and there’s also Sebastian Baez of course, who is actually their highest ranked player. Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni seems to be the pair for the doubles.
Of course, the South Americans would have preferred the red clay and they will need to reach absolute top level to progress here.
Team Argentina haven’t reached the semi’s in Davis Cup since 2016 when they went on to win the tournament.
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Odds and Predictions for Italy vs Argentina
The odds are showing just how big favorites Italy are here, with an Italian win giving 1.13 | -500 and a shock victory by the Argentinians pays 6.50 | +550.
This might be over with the singles, as Sinner and Musetti looks stronger than their opponents for now. One thing that could give Argentina an advantage is if Volandri chooses to rest Sinner here, as he just arrived from a long ATP Finals week, and Musetti and Berrettini plays the singles.
Our prediction will remain though: Italy to win and head into the semi-finals.
