Netherlands' captain Paul Haarhuis had achievements as the centre of attention for Jannik Sinner's Italy as they led themselves home to victory and a spot in the Davis Cup semi-finals on Thursday.
The Dutch took the early lead at the Davis Cup Finals with Botic van de Zandschulp seeing off Matteo Arnaldi in a closely fought match. Before Jannik Sinner then levelled the tie defeating Tallon Griekspoor 7-6(3), 6-1.
He then proved decisive in the doubles rubber as Sinner and Lorenzo Sonego saw off Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof 6-3, 6-4. But Haarhuis joked that it went wrong for his team as soon as Sinner got off the plane and dubbed it the 'Jannik Sinner show'.
He could soon lock horns with Novak Djokovic again with the Serbian set to face Italy in the semi-finals. A third meeting in two weeks if all goes well.
"The moment Jannik [Sinner] landed here in Malaga. I think that's where it went wrong," Haarhuis laughed.
"No, he just played very well, singles and doubles. We know he's on fire. We know he's got confidence. And he showed it also in doubles, and he took the lead. Was serving good. Made a lot of returns, and every second shot was just so strong."
"I thought these guys played well. They created some chances on [Lorenzo] Sonego's serve, but the other guys just came up. Jannik really helped Sonego there in the moments that Sonego needed help. I felt like it was the Sinner show today."
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