Amazing Azzurri

BOLOGNA, Italy (AFP) — 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-sets victories, making light of the absences of star players Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti.

Sinner and Musetti withdrew from Italy’s title defense 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 5-2 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,” team captain Filippo Volandri said.

“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 22 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,” Cobolli said.

“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.

The semifinal line-up will be completed on Thursday when Argentina face Germany and Spain take on the Czech Republic without world number one Carlos Alcaraz, who withdrew with a hamstring injury on Tuesday.