Before Canada scared Germany to death in Thursday’s Davis Cup final, the United States, the only other nation to have two top-20 players in its ranks, saw the way out in Italy.

A surprising Italy deprived of their two main headliners, Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini in 15th and 16th, both injured.

A bitter specialist

As in the game between the Canadians and the Germans, the decisive doubles match between the Americans and the Italians was also decided, which the duo Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini won 6:4 and 6:4.

On the other side of the net stood Jack Sock and Tommy Paul. But not Rajeev Ram, third in the world in the discipline and newly crowned champion of the ATP Finals.

The veteran, who previously said he was bitter at being left out by Captain Mardy Fish, also took to Twitter to point to the American team in the moments after the loss.

“How’s Thanksgiving? [américaine] of each ?” wrote the champion, holder of four titles this season.

In a press conference, Fish defended himself for not picking Ram, mentioning that he was his great friend and that he thought he was a great doubles player.

“He’s definitely one of the best in the world. But building a doubles team isn’t just about pairing one high-ranked player with another hoping they get good results,” the former Top 10 pointed out.

“Bad and worn out”

For his part, the only winner of the day on the American side, Taylor Fritz, went there with a lengthy criticism of the balls used by the tournament.

“Everything I thought of [au bris d’égalité de la première manche], the balls were so bad and worn out, so much so that I couldn’t score a winning goal. I tried to be aggressive, but it didn’t work,” complained the world ninth, who nevertheless prevailed 7: 6 (8) and 6: 3 against Lorenzo Musetti (23rd).

Félix Auger-Aliassime said the same thing against Oscar Otte. But the Quebecer, with his usual tact, was not so critical.

“The balls and the pitch are very different from what we saw in Turin last week,” admitted the Quebecer after his single. But we are used to that as tennis players. The conditions change from tournament to tournament.