Matteo Berrettini admits what he should’ve done in the first set of his win over Thanasi Kokkinakis at the Davis Cup

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Matteo Berrettini beat Thanasi Kokkinakis to put Italy one win away from the final of the Davis Cup.

Berrettini took to the court for the opening singles match of Italy’s semi-final tie against Australia at the Davis Cup.

Italy had advanced to the last four after Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini won the deciding doubles against Argentina on Thursday.

It was an instant classic in Malaga as Kokkinakis took the opening set against the 28-year-old Italian in a first-set tiebreaker.

Berrettini bounced back and won the next two sets 6-3, 7-5, to take home the match in over two and a half hours.

It’s the second marathon match that the Australian has been involved in this week, as Kokkinakis beat Ben Shelton in a record-breaking third-set tiebreak in the quarter-finals.

A great win for Berrettini, that has put his Italian side just one win away from the final, but he can’t help but feel like he should’ve won the match sooner.

Matteo Berrettini says he should’ve won the first set ‘six times’ against Thanasi Kokkinakis

Speaking to Rai Sport following his three-set win over Kokkinakis at the Davis Cup, Berrettini admitted that winning the first set took a lot longer than he would’ve liked.

“It was a match with a lot of difficulties,” he said.

“I should have won the first set six times but tennis is like that.

“The guys cheered me up and told me I was playing better, I continued to fight and this was the first step of a beautiful semi-final.”

The 28-year-old went on to explain what happened to the Spanish crowd during the match.

“Malaga has become Italian,” he said.

“But even non-Italian fans appreciate matches like that.”

Berrettini now plans on getting back out there to cheer on his teammates.

“Now I’ll recover for a moment and then I’ll go back to the bench to support Jannik [Sinner] and the rest of the team,” he said.

Can Jannik Sinner send Italy into another Davis Cup Final?

Next up for Italy is world number one Sinner, who will take on Alex de Minaur for a place in the final.

The pair met in last year’s final, with Sinner winning on that occasion to take home his nation’s first Davis Cup trophy in 47 years.

Sinner has had the better of the Australian throughout his career, so will be confident of securing his side’s place in Sunday’s final.

Leading an impressive 8-0 against the De Minaur, Sinner will no doubt be expected to take his team back to the Davis Cup Final.