ROME - ​As Italy set off for Malaga to defend its Davis Cup title, some scintillating scenarios raised fans’ expectations. If you believe the press, all eyes focused on Spain and their 22-time Grand Slam winner, Rafael Nadal. For almost two years now, Rafa has been running on fumes. His wins have been few and far between. But in an effort to give him a send-off commensurate with his career, he has been showcased at various tournaments and exhibitions, each rumored to be his last match.

 Subject of course to revision, the 2024 Davis Cup was supposed to be his swan song. The conventional wisdom was that he would play a subsidiary role, perhaps as a member of the Spanish doubles team. Instead, he took the court in the first singles match where his Dutch opponent, Botic van de Zandsculp, was, pardon the pun, no slouch. He had recently beaten Carlos Alcaraz, and indeed Van de Zandsculp drubbed Rafa from the start.

 The muscular, explosive former champion resembles no one so much as Mike Tyson trying to escape Father Time. ​ Alcaraz played the second rubber and did his duty by taking down Tallon Griekspoor in straight sets. That left things up to the opposing doubles teams. Van de Zandsculp and Wesley Koolhof for the Dutch, and Alcaraz and Marcel Granollers for the Spaniards. Although not as well publicized as Rafa’s last match, Koolhof had announced in advance that if he lost he would retire. Instead, he helped retire the Spaniards and disappoint their rampant fans. The United States also entered the competition on a tsunami crest of expectations.

 Ben Shelton, whose lefthanded serve had wreaked havoc for long stretches of 2024, was chosen to play second fiddle in singles to Taylor Fritz, the 2024 US Open finalist who seemed capable of beating everybody except Italy’s Jannik Sinner. But the Americans got off to a surprisingly poor start against Australia where Thanasi Kokkinakis took advantage of the exceptionally fast courts and hammered Shelton in a long, exhausting third set tie-break.

 Taylor Fritz evened things up against Alex de Minaur, which again put pressure on the doubles competitors. Unlike Australia which has an experienced doubles team in Jordan Thompson and Matthew Ebden, the US coach Bob Bryan decided to experiment and substituted Shelton and Tommy Paul for Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek. It proved to be a crucial mistake. Ebden and Thompson had no trouble winning 6-4/6-4. ​Playing without Alexander Zverev, Germany had a surprisingly easy time overcoming Canada.

 Daniel Altmaier chopped Gabriel Diallo from Canada down to size, 7-6/6-4. Given that Diallo is 6’8” tall, that was a bit like chopping down a redwood tree. In the next match, John Lennard Struff gave Germany an unsurmountable 2-0 lead when he squeaked past Denis Shapovalov 4-6/7-5/7-6. Germans Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz, who had just taken the ATP doubles finals in Turin, Italy, didn’t get a chance to compete, but figured to be crucial components of the German team in the semifinals against the Dutch. ​

 It feels like Jannik Sinner has won everything this year – two Grand Slam titles, a fistful of Masters 1000s, and 2 fistfuls of dollars. He took home $6 million from a series of exhibition matches in Saudi Arabia that many fear is a precursor of what may become of the ATP tour with lucrative exos played in oil-rich countries, replacing more traditional events. Heavily favored to win his second Davis Cup title, Sinner sat on the sidelines with a furrowed brow as his teammate Lorenzo Musetti was clobbered by Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina. Predictably, Sinner beat the overmatched Sebstian Baez, but once again that left Italy tensely awaiting the results of the doubles.

 Mario Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori have played decently this year and were scheduled for the crucial doubles match, but at the last moment, Italian coach Filippo Volandri decided to play the nuclear option. He had two heavyweights, Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini, take the court against Argentines Andres Molteni and Maximo Gonzalez, a 41-year old veteran with a bristly white beard.

 The Argentines did their guileful best but the Italians simply had too much fire power, especially Berrettini who after a skein of injuries was playing his first doubles match in eighteen months. Thus the Italians advanced where they’ll confront Australia on Saturday. Doubles teams, stay alert!