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.

Italy will face Belgium in the semi-finals of the Davis Cup after winning both of Wednesday's two singles matches against Austria in front of an enthusiastic crowd in Bologna.

Novak Djokovic's comeback came to a crashing halt on Tuesday as he lost 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 to Matteo Berrettini in the second round of the Qatar Open.

Having clinched his fourth Grand Slam and back-to-back Wimbledon titles at the age of just 21, Spain's tennis star Carlos Alcaraz has the world at his feet.

World number nine Taylor Fritz battled past Italian Matteo Berrettini with a powerhouse performance to steer the United States to the inaugural mixed teams United Cup title in Sydney on Sunday.

Berrettini was widely regarded as one of the biggest threats to defending champion Novak Djokovic at the All England Club, having captured back-to-back grass-court titles in Stuttgart and Queen's.

Matteo Berrettini defeated Serbia's Filip Krajinovic 7-5, 6-4 in the final of the Wimbledon warm-up event

While speaking to the broadcasters following his win, a fan from the crowd proposed to Matteo Berrettini and his reply left everyone in splits.

Matteo Berrettini will be out until at least after the end of the Italian Open in his home city of Rome which finishes on May 15.

Rafael Nadal, whose only Australian Open triumph came in 2009, said that he never expected that he would get a chance to contest the final once again in 2022