John Peers and Luke Saville sealed an Australian victory over a star-studded Italian team on Sunday night.
The tie was locked at 1-1 heading into the deciding doubles rubber before the Australian pair locked horns with Matteo Berrettini and Simone Bolelli on Ken Rosewall Arena.
Peers and Saville needed 83-minutes to defeat the Italians, but the 6-3 7-5 victory was by no means a cakewalk.
The Aussies collected the first set 6-3 but Berrettini and Bolelli wrestled back the momentum as the second set got underway.
In fact, behind an improved performance on serve, the Italians were arguably the better team for much of the second, but an 8-point run by the Australians proved too much in the finish.
Earlier, Alex de Minaur was back to something close to his best when he levelled the tie after defeating World No. 7 Matteo Berrettini.6-3 7-6(4).
De Minaur, who experienced a roller coaster 2021, was emotional post-match when speaking about the last 12 months.
"It's not about how many times you get knocked down. It's about how many times you get knocked down and get back up,” he said.
Hip soreness saw Max Purcell replace James Duckworth in the opening match of the tie against World No. 10 Jannik Sinner.
The 20-year-old Italian was a dominant 6-1 6-3 winner over the Australian who was only able to win 14% of second serve points over the course of the match.
Post-match, Sinner was understandably pleased by his performance.
“I felt very, very solid... for the first match of the year, it could not have gone any better,” he said
Meanwhile, at Qudos Bank Arena, the tie between Germany and Great Britain also went the distance to a deciding doubles rubber.
Following his 7-6(2) 6-1 win over World No. 13 Cam Norrie, Alexander Zverev teamed up with Kevin Krawietz against the formidable pairing of Dan Evans and Jamie Murray.
Evans, who opened 2022 in style against Jan-Lennard Struff in the form of a 6-1 6-2 win, was a standout performer on Sunday, but the quality of that win even took himself by surprise.
“I’ve been practising well, but I didn’t expect to play the match this well,” he said.
Ultimately, Evans and Murray were able to win 80% of first serve points against their German opponents on their way to a 6-3 6-4 victory that secured the tie 2-1 for Great Britain.
In ATP Cup action on Monday, Poland face Georgia on Ken Rosewall Arena in the day session and Greece take on Argentina in the night session.
Over on Qudos Bank Arena, Norway will do battle with Spain from 10:00AM AEDST, while Serbia and Chile make up the other night session.
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