Ricky’s preview and picks for the 2022 Davis Cup Finals

The Nitto ATP Finals have come and gone, but the 2022 tennis season isn’t over yet. This year’s festivities are wrapping up with the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, Spain, where eight countries will battle it out for the trophy. Quarterfinal competition gets underway on Tuesday before the semis and final take place over the weekend.

It all comes down to Spain, Croatia, Australia, the Netherlands, Canada, Germany, the United States, and Italy.

Spain may have home-court advantage, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. Both Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz are out, whereas quarterfinal opponent Croatia is loaded. The Croats boast Marin Cilic and Borna Coric in singles to go along with Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic in doubles.

Australia vs. the Netherlands looks like a competitive tie on paper. A slight edge may go to Croatia with Alex de Minaur leading the way in singles and getting support from the doubles duo of Max Purcell and Matthew Ebden.

The other two quarterfinal ties could be decided by injury absences. Germany is without Alexander Zverev, while Italy is missing both Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini. Like Spain, when healthy the Italians are one of the deepest countries around. They still have Lorenzo Musetti and Lorenzo Sonego at their disposal, but without Sinner and Berrettini that may not be enough to topple Americans Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, and Jack Sock. As for the Germans, they will have their hands full–probably too full–with Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov.

Picks

Quarterfinals
United States 2, Italy 0
Canada 2, Germany 0
Australia 2, Netherlands 1
Croatia 2, Spain 1

Semifinals
United States 2, Canada 1
Croatia 2, Australia 1

Final
Croatia 2, United States 1

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.