Sinner perfect as Italy wins first Davis Cup title since 1976
Jannik Sinner capped his perfect week by leading Italy to its first Davis Cup title in nearly five decades.
Sinner took his record to 5-0 this week by beating Alex de Miñaur 6-3, 6-0 in the second singles match of Sunday’s final at Malaga, Spain, giving Italy a 2-0 win over Australia for its first Davis Cup title since 1976.
Matteo Arnaldi had given Italy the first point with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 win over Alexei Popyrin.
The No. 4 Sinner beat topranked Novak Djokovic in the singles and doubles matches in Saturday’s semifinal showdown against Serbia.
The 22-year-old Italian needed 1 hour, 21 minutes to seal Italy’s victory against Australia.
Arnaldi earlier saved eight break points before getting a break of his own to close out the first match in the decisive third set.
“I think I won one of the most important matches of my life,” the 44th-ranked Arnaldi said.
ELSEWHERE Verstappen cruises to Abu Dhabi GP win
Although Max Verstappen clinched his third straight Formula One title almost two months ago at the Qatar Grand Prix there was never any chance of him easing up.
He’s won every race since and capped off an outstanding year with a record-extending 19th victory of the season at the Abu Dhabi GP on Sunday.
“I think that is just something how I grew up, I just can’t come into a race weekend not giving my all,” Verstappen said. “I would just get annoyed with myself and then I know people around me get annoyed with me. My mindset didn’t change after winning the championship.”
Verstappen finished ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes driver George Russell in Abu Dhabi and also collected a bonus point for the fastest lap.
The win moved him one ahead of former Red Bull great Sebastian Vettel, with only Michael Schumacher (91) and Lewis Hamilton (103) ahead of him.
Golf: Min Woo Lee won the Australian PGA Championship on Sunday, closing with a 3-under 68 for a three-shot victory at Royal Queensland. Lee finished at 20-under 264. Rikuya Hoshino of Japan was second, also shooting 68.
Slalom: Mikaela Shiffrin built on her first-run lead to win a women’s World Cup slalom Sunday at Killington, Vt., for her record-extending career victory No. 90. The American two-time Olympic champion pleased the home crowd by posting the fastest time in both runs and beating her Slovakian rival Petra Vlhova by 0.33 seconds.
“It’s amazing to do this, especially here, with the home crowd,” said Shiffrin, who is from Colorado but can almost consider Killington a hometown race because she honed her skills nearby at the Burke Mountain Academy as a teenager.
Shiffrin gathered her 90 wins from 254 starts on the World Cup since her 2011 debut on the circuit two days before her 16th birthday.
NHL: David Perron scored twice, including his 300th career goal, and Detroit beat Minnesota 4-1 on Sunday.