A magnificent Álex de Miñaur achieved this Friday for Australia the second and final point in the semifinals of the Davis Cup being held in Malaga against the Finnish Emil Ruusuvuori (6-4 and 6-3), with which the oceanic team repeats as finalist in the top world team tennis tournament, as he already did in the 2022 edition.
The Australian team will have a second chance to lift their 29th Salad Bowl in Malaga this Sunday (4:00 p.m.), in a final that will face the winner of Saturday’s semifinal between Novak Djokovic’s Serbia and Jannik Sinner’s Italy.
With the first point obtained by Alexei Popyrin for Australia against the Finn Otto Virtanen in two sets (7-6 and 6-2), De Miñaur did the same in an hour and a half of fluid tennis, entertaining for the spectator and with great solvency . This time he did not have to come back like in the quarterfinals and he did not give his rival any options.
What De Minaur showed is that his mental strength is decisive and that his twelfth place in the world rankings is no coincidence. The Australian, 24 years old and with a Uruguayan father and a Spanish mother, does not easily fall into stress when he goes down, he is patient and waits for his moment.
For this reason, in their duel against Finland they went from 0-2 to 5-2 almost in an instant. Ruusuvuori entered the match with enthusiasm, as he was making his debut in this Davis Cup after losing the quarterfinal round due to discomfort in his shoulder, but the Australian of Spanish descent played as if he were playing at home and did not give him any option.
However, the Finn had time to close the gap and put some pressure, but the 6-4 fell on the oceanic side in the first set and De Miñaur placed his nation one step away from the final.
In the second, Ruusuvuori tried to get up from the takedown and held firm when his opponent was one point away from going 5-2 and serving to win. However, the 4-3 in this second set looked much more promising to continue trying to make a comeback.
The stands, with approximately 6,000 Finns pressing in, did not at all affect the confidence of the Australian, who when he puts on the gold jersey finds his best level and feels like a leader, thus closing the victory for his team in an incontestable way on serve ( 6-3).
The second semifinal of the Davis Cup 2023 will be played this Saturday, starting at noon, by Italians and Serbians, with all eyes on the match between the stars of both teams, references of two generations: Jannik Sinner (22 years old) for Italy and Novak Djokovic (36 years old) from Serbia.
This last Davis Cup semi-final in Malaga will presumably be an episode with hints of a Grand Slam final that will fill the José María Martín Carpena Sports Palace to the brim.
