Davis Cup – World Group Teams Men
Italy – Belgium: 13.09.2024 15:00 CEST
H2H: 0-1
1st potential matchup:
Flavio Cobolli – Zizou Bergs
Flavio and Zizou are the best ranked players for Italy and Belgium. This meeting will be played indoors on hard. Cobolli reached the third round of the US Open, when he lost against Medvedev in straight sets as we predicted. Flavio had some solid results this season, and has been consistent on every surface throughout the whole season. Bergs reached the second round in New York, where he lost against Cobolli in four sets. Zizou had his biggest results this season at the challenger tour level. Those results helped him cement his top 100 spot. Bergs won his opening match at the Davis Cup against Griekspoor in three sets, and showed great tennis.
We believe that Bergs will have a decent chance against Cobolli under these conditions. Bergs loves to play indoors, which he showed against Griekspoor as well.
That being said, we believe that Bergs will win the first match for Belgium.
2nd potential matchup:
Matteo Arnaldi – Raphael Collignon
Matteo and Joao are the second best ranked players for Italy and Belgium. Arnaldi reached the third round of the US Open, where he lost against Thompson in straight sets. Just shortly before the US Open, Arnaldi reached the semifinals in Montreal, losing against Rublev in straight sets. Arnaldi won his opening match against Monteiro in three tight sets. Raphael Collignon is lurking around the top 200. So far in his career, Collignon has spent most of his time at the ITF/Challenger level. He had his biggest results on the clay courts. Raphael showed solid tennis in his opening match against Van de Zandschulp, where he lost in tight straight sets.
Arnaldi is a way more experienced player than Collignon. He is also a better hard-court player at this moment, so we believe that he will win this match easily.
That being said, we believe that Arnaldi will get the first win for Italy.
3rd potential matchup:
Vavassori/Bolelli – Gille/Vliegen
We expect Italy and Belgium to play their doubles matches like this. Vavassori and Bolelli have been playing together for a longer time. They had some great results this season, such as reaching the final at the French Open. Vavassori won the mixed title with his partner, Sara Errani, last week at the US Open. Gille and Vliegen have been playing together for a long time now. They are experienced doubles partners with some solid results behind them. Gille and Vliegen won their opening match against Koolhof and Van de Zandschulp in three tight sets.
We believe that Vavassori and Bolelli are in better form at this moment. They are both great players when it comes to the most important matches.
That is why we believe that they will win the deciding match for their country.
Best Bet to Make
This will be a very tough challenge for both countries. We believe that it will all come down to the doubles match. As we already mentioned, we believe that Vavassori and Bolleli will handle the pressure better than Gille and Vliegen, and get the deciding win for Italy.
That being said, Italy winning 2-1 is a value bet.
Main Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
