Flavio Cobolli saves seven Zizou Bergs match points, clinches Davis Cup semifinal for Italy

BOLOGNA, Italy (AP) — Matteo Berrettini beat Raphael Collignon 6-3, 6-4 to give two-time defending champion Italy the lead against Belgium in their Davis Cup semifinal on Friday.

The No. 56-ranked Berrettini, a 2021 Wimbledon runner-up with 10 singles titles on the tour, clinched the first set on serve against No. 86 Collignon.

Collignon dropped his opening serve of the second set but he broke back for 2-2. Berrettini withstood aggressive shot-making to break for 4-3 and won on his first match point with a love hold.

Later Friday, No. 22 Flavio Cobolli faced No. 43 Zizou Bergs in the second singles in the Italian city of Bologna, and the two-time defending champions reached the Davis Cup final after Cobolli beat Bergs, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (15) after saving seven match points in a dramatic semifinal on Friday.

After wasting several match points, Cobolli ripped off his shirt and celebrated with his teammates. He eventually went to comfort Bergs, who was consoled by his team as he cried on his chair. Cobolli gave Italy an unassailable 2-0 lead without needing the doubles contest.

Italy is riding a 13-tie winning streak and meets the winner of Saturday’s semifinal between Germany and Spain, which is without injured No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz.

Neither Belgian has won a singles title on the men’s tour. But the No. 43-ranked Bergs played like it was the biggest match of his life against No. 22 Cobolli, who had the crowd behind him in Bologna.

From 3-3 in the second set tiebreaker Bergs found his range and leveled the match with a forehand to the back of the court which Cobolli returned long.

The players then swapped and missed match point chances, with Cobolli eventually triumphing with a service winner that Bergs could only just get his racket on.

Italy will meet the winner of Saturday's semifinal between Germany and Spain.

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