Last Updated: September 18, 2023, 00:08 IST
Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego in the Davis Cup (AP)
Italy took an unassailable 2-0 lead against Sweden to become the seventh team to qualify for the Davis Cup Final.
Italy became the seventh team to qualify for the Davis Cup Final 8 on Sunday with singles wins from Matteo Arnaldi and Lorenzo Sonego giving them an unassailable 2-0 lead against Sweden in Bologna.
Arnaldi, 22, who reached the fourth round at the US Open, saw of Sweden’s Leo Borg 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 22 minutes.
Sonego then overcame Elias Ymer 6-4, 6-4 to move Italy 2-0 ahead.
Victory means the Italians, who only needed to win one of their ties to advance ahead of Chile, progress to the showpiece event in Malaga in November alongside group winners and defending champions Canada.
Italy have now advanced to the Davis Cup quarter-finals five times since 2016.
Serbia, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Finland and Australia have also booked their tickets with the last place going to either Great Britain or France.
In their winner-takes-all match in Manchester, Dan Evans gave the hosts the advantage with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 victory over 19-year-old Arthur Fils.
Ugo Humbert levelled the tie with a 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 7-5 win over Cameron Norrie which means it will come down to the doubles.
Defending champion Canada advanced to the Final 8 of the Davis Cup on Saturday but the United States was eliminated by Finland, which reached the quarterfinals for the first time with a 3-0 win.
Otto Virtanen saved two match points in the decisive tiebreaker to beat Mackenzie McDonald 7-6 (5), 1-6, 7-6 (7) and Emil Ruusuvuori defeated Tommy Paul 7-6 (1), 6-4 — sealing the result on his fourth match point — to give debutant Finland a historic win in Split, Croatia, at the group stage of the Davis Cup Finals.
Finland joins the Netherlands in advancing out of Group D and reaching the Final 8 in the southern Spanish city of Malaga in November.
Canada beat Chile 2-1. Alexis Galarneau’s 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory over Alejandro Tabilo in the opening match was enough to secure Canada’s spot in Malaga.
Nicolas Jarry leveled the tie by beating Gabriel Diallo 6-4, 6-4 but a 6-3, 7-6 (7) victory for Galarneau and Vasek Pospisil over Marcelo Tomás Barrios Vera and Tabilo saw Canada clinch top spot in Group A.
Last year’s runner-up Australia also ensured its return to the Final 8 with a 3-0 win over Switzerland in Manchester.
Defeat in any of the matches would have left Australia depending on the outcome of Britain’s matchup against France on Sunday.
Thanasi Kokkinakis set Australia on its way with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Dominic Stricker, and Alex de Minaur beat Marc-Andrea Huesler 6-4, 6-3.
Max Purcell and Matt Ebden then won their third match of the week in straight sets, defeating Huesler and Stricker 6-2, 6-4 to secure one of the top two spots in Group B.
The Czech Republic beat Serbia 3-0 to clinch top spot in Group C with Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlasek beating Novak Djokovic and Nikola Cacic 7-5, 6-7 (5), 10-3. Both countries were already through with two wins each in Valencia.
(With inputs from Agencies)
