Davis Cup, today the Italy-Spain final. Nargiso: the strength of the Azzurri in the group

It was not enough for Germany to count on world number 3 Alexander Zverev to win the Davis Cup final after 32 years: the Germans lost 2-1 to Spain, despite being orphaned by Carlos Alcaraz. Thanks to the point brought by Carreno-Busta against Struff in the first singles and the decisive one obtained in doubles by Granollers and Martinez against Krawietz and Puetz, Spain reached its 11th final. Zverev's 1-all victory (the only top 15 player in the team competition) with Munar was therefore useless. The date for the final with Italy is Sunday at 3pm, live on Rai 1. Spain is aiming at its seventh title (the last one taken home in 2019), Italy at its third consecutive one.

Diego Nargiso, who knows something about Davis (he came close to winning in the dramatic final in Milan in 1998, when Andrea Gaudenzi was injured), has confidence in the Azzurri, who have already shown their strength and competitiveness in the matches against Austria and Belgium: "It is a very strong and cohesive team, thanks to the work done by Filippo Volandri over time. Regardless of the individual, it has shown that it can make a great Davis because it is not enough to have a spearhead, and this is what history says: it has never been enough to have a champion to win, we have seen this today with Zverev as well, but it is the players as a whole that count, and above all the environment, the cohesion, the unity, the convergence of everyone's interests to be part of a project that leads to victory. What you call a real team'. Nargiso, born in 1970, Supertennis columnist, senior sports manager at the Polytechnic University of Turin (chosen by the rector Stefano Corgnati to develop the idea of a sports culture as a factor of physical and mental wellbeing), has played 32 matches in the national team, and for this he received the International tennis award for Davis Cup.

Asking him for a prediction is a must: 'When you play a final there is never a favourite and an underdog. Spain are the underdogs, but they were also underdogs against the Czech Republic and Germany, and then they won. In Davis there are only two teams that have to fight to take the cup. The one with the most courage and determination in the few moments that can make the difference will succeed. The boys have had a great run. The only disadvantage we might have, not to be underestimated, is if we were to go to the doubles, but only for one reason: we have not yet touched a ball in the previous challenges, in doubles, while they have had two official matches, they have been able to compete. Which objectively has value. On the other hand we have the crowd: Bologna has been a sixth man'.

Nargiso mentioned Volandri... we can't help but go back in time, and ask him what coaches Panatta and Bertolucci were, in those years. 'They were very different. Adriano was a coach with great intuition, a 'situation' coach: at the time you could decide, for example, the surfaces and so it was important, when playing at home, to build situations of difficulty for the opponent, and in this Adriano, strategically speaking, was remarkable, even courageous - sometimes he made divisive choices -, he believed he could really make an impact. He was a coach who felt, both on and off the court, after all, he was a coach-player even if he did not play, he was totally part of the good and bad success of a tennis match. Paolo was different, he was always by Adriano's side as assistant coach, he followed us, he gave us advice. Then in '97 he took over, he was an 'older brother' captain, more accommodating in some ways, he kept us calm, he tried to find a balance with serenity and his calm and gentle ways. He made fewer choices, although he had to make them, depending on where we played. They were both, in their diversity, great coaches'.