Daijiworld Media Network - Italy

Italy, Nov 22: Matteo Berrettini defeated Raphael Collignon 6-3, 6-4 on Friday to give two-time defending champions Italy the lead over Belgium in their Davis Cup semifinal.

The No. 56-ranked Berrettini, 2021 Wimbledon runner-up with 10 singles titles, secured the first set on serve. Collignon, ranked 86th, dropped his opening serve in the second set but broke back to 2-2. Berrettini then broke again for 4-3 and closed out the match on his first match point with a love hold.

Later Friday, Italy’s No. 22 Flavio Cobolli faced No. 43 Zizou Bergs in the second singles match in Bologna. Neither Belgian player has won a singles title on the men’s tour.

Italy played without world No. 2 Jannik Sinner, the four-time Grand Slam champion who led Italy to Davis Cup titles in 2023 and 2024. Sinner recently retained his ATP Finals crown, defeating world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz.

The winner of Italy-Belgium will face the victor of Saturday’s Germany-Spain semifinal. This year marks the sixth edition of the revamped Davis Cup Final 8, with the champion decided at a neutral venue.