Davis Cup: Italy beat Austria to set up semifinal against Belgium

NEW DELHI: Italy will face Belgium in the semifinals of the Davis Cup after winning both of Wednesday’s singles matches against Austria in front of an enthusiastic crowd in Bologna.

Matteo Berrettini and Flavio Cobolli claimed straight-set victories, making light of the absences of star players Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti.

Sinner and Musetti withdrew from Italy’s title defence on home soil, but the Azzurri were dominant even without two players ranked in the world’s top 10.

Former Wimbledon finalist Berrettini, who was key to Italy retaining the Davis Cup last year, comfortably saw off Jurij Rodionov 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) in one hour and 35 minutes.

Berrettini went 2-5 down in the second set, which was interrupted for half an hour due to a problem with the lighting in the arena.

But the injury-prone 29-year-old rattled off three games, saving three set points to draw level at 5-5 before going on to win the tie-break and put Italy ahead in the tie.

“I’m really proud of how the boys managed the two matches,” said team captain Filippo Volandri.

“It’s not news that Matteo has this character, he’s made to play in these competitions... to find solutions in difficult moments.”

Cobolli, ranked 22nd in the world, made short work of Filip Misolic, beating Austria’s highest-ranked player 6-1, 6-3 to secure Italy a spot in the last four.

The 23-year-old, who won his first titles in Hamburg and Bucharest this year, breezed past Misolic in little more than an hour to the joy of the majority of the 10,000 fans present in northern Italy.

“It’s definitely the best day of my life,” said Cobolli.

“I’ve always dreamed of wearing this jersey and playing for Italy, for the lads over there (his teammates), my family and my team.”

Italy winning the two singles matches meant Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori did not play their doubles match against Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler. Agencies

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