{"id":297486,"date":"2023-11-25T19:24:57","date_gmt":"2023-11-25T19:24:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/?p=297486"},"modified":"2023-11-25T19:24:57","modified_gmt":"2023-11-25T19:24:57","slug":"australia-see-off-finland-to-reach-davis-cup-final-for-second-successive-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/tennis\/australia-see-off-finland-to-reach-davis-cup-final-for-second-successive-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia see off Finland to reach Davis Cup final for second-successive year"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
Australia ended the surprise run of Finland to reach the Davis Cup final for the second year in a row.<\/p>\n
Finland defeated Croatia and the USA in the group stage in September to qualify for the quarter-finals for the first time and then upset defending champions Canada on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Backed by thousands of fans in Malaga thanks to a sizeable local population of ex-pats, they hoped to continue the fairytale but found Australia too strong.<\/p>\n
Otto Virtanen, ranked 171, had been the unlikely star of their run but he was beaten 7-6 (5) 6-2 by Alexei Popyrin, a late call-up to the Australia team and picked ahead of Jordan Thompson, in the opening match.<\/p>\n
It was a first victory in a live rubber for the 24-year-old, who said: \u201cIt\u2019s nerves that I have never experienced before in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Finns were boosted by the return of their number one Emil Ruusuvuori from a shoulder injury but he was unable to capitalise on a good start against world number 12 Alex De Minaur and went down 6-4 6-3.<\/p>\n
Australia will now try to go one better than last year\u2019s 2-0 loss to Canada when they take on either Serbia or Italy in the final.<\/p>\n
It is a 49th Davis Cup final for Australia but they have not lifted the trophy since 2003.<\/p>\n