British interest in singles at the French Open ended after Cameron Norrie lost meekly to Lorenzo Musetti in the third round, castigating his attitude and performance in a 6-1 6-2 6-4 defeat.

Novak Djokovic survived the longest three-set match of his grand slam career, battling past Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in three hours and 36 minutes, while Carlos Alcaraz had a much easier time against Denis Shapovalov.

In the women’s event, Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka reached round four for the first time but third seed Jessica Pegula is out.

Picture of the dayTweet of the day

Naomi Osaka and boyfriend Cordae are expecting a girl.

Shot of the dayStat of the day

A disastrous first week for the home country, who began with 28 players in the main singles draws.

Fritz earns Mac approval

Not surprisingly, Taylor Fritz’s baiting of the French crowd in his late-night win over Arthur Rinderknech was right up John McEnroe’s street. “I like to see a little confrontation,” said Eurosport pundit McEnroe. The booing was so loud that the on-court interview was limited to one question.

China return

The WTA announced earlier this year that it would be ending its boycott of China over the Peng Shuai affair. Details of the autumn calendar have now been announced, with seven tournaments taking place in the country, including the WTA Finals in Shenzhen.

Fallen seeds

Men: Andrey Rublev (7), Hubert Hurkacz (13), Cameron Norrie (14), Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (29).
Women: Jessica Pegula (3), Anastasia Potapova (24), Irina-Camelia Begu (27).

Who’s up next?

The boot will be on the other foot for 19-year-old Coco Gauff when she takes on Russian Mirra Andreeva, three years her junior, in the third round on Saturday. Defending champion Iga Swiatek meets Wang Xinyu of China while fourth seed Elena Rybakina plays Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo. The night session again features a men’s match – Alexander Zverev up against Frances Tiafoe – while Casper Ruud and Holger Rune are also in action.

Cameron Norrie criticised his own attitude and performance after his French Open campaign ended with a straight-sets loss to Lorenzo Musetti in the third round.

It is the third year in a row the British number one has fallen in the last 32, and he only managed to mount any real challenge in the third set before going down 6-1 6-2 6-4.

There is certainly no disgrace in losing to 21-year-old Musetti, who is ranked only five places below Norrie and whose best surface is clay, but the 14th seed was hugely disappointed by the manner of what is one of his worst grand slam losses in terms of scoreline.

The result, meanwhile, brings an end to British singles hopes at a tournament where only three players even made the start line.

“I came out very flat and I’m disappointed with the attitude in the first couple of sets,” said a very downbeat Norrie.

“It was very, very slow conditions, very heavy, and I was not prepared for it to be that slow. For me, I can play bad and everything, but I was just very flat and disappointed to have a performance like that.

“The first two sets he didn’t really do too much and he was up two sets to love. For a player like myself, I can’t afford to give that much of an edge.

“There is no excuses to play the level that I did today. I missed so many easy short balls and I lost so many points within a couple of shots where usually I can win a lot of those ones.

“I didn’t come prepared. I was changing rackets throughout the match. It was a bit colder today but I’m good enough to not let that bother me.”

Norrie lost to Musetti in Barcelona recently but spoke positively after his second-round victory over Lucas Pouille about what he had learned from that clash.

He was immediately on the back foot, though, dropping serve in the opening game against the stylish Italian and swiftly losing the opening set.

The second was no better, with Musetti too often finding an answer to everything Norrie could throw at him, and the 17th seed went a break up early in the third as well.

Norrie was staring at his worst slam loss but he at least made a fist of it, breaking Musetti, who had lost from two sets up on both of his previous appearances at Roland Garros, back and creating two chances to break for 5-3.

The Italian held firm, though, and drilled a forehand past Norrie to break again before serving out the victory.

Norrie is known for a relentless work ethic and never-say-die attitude so to hear him talk about a lack of preparation and unwillingness to stay in points is certainly concerning.

The 27-year-old has maintained a relentless schedule to help him get to and then stay at the top of the game so it would be understandable if he felt mentally fatigued, but he dismissed the suggestion.

“I’ve played a lot of matches,” he said. “I think I can use that to my advantage. I’ve played more matches maybe than anyone else on the tour in the last maybe three years. I can say that’s a good thing.

“And then even going into this match today, I was thinking I’ve won more matches than Musetti this year, I’ve won bigger matches than him. I think I’m playing better than him on the clay. I was really confident going into it.”

Norrie will now head back to London and turn his attention to the grass-court swing a year on from his run to the Wimbledon semi-finals.

Cameron Norrie’s French Open campaign ended in disappointing fashion with a straight-sets loss to Lorenzo Musetti in the third round.

It is the third year in a row the British number one has fallen in the last 32, and he only managed to mount any real challenge in the third set before going down 6-1 6-2 6-4.

There is certainly no disgrace in losing to 21-year-old Musetti, who is ranked only five places below Norrie and whose best surface is clay, but the 14th seed will be disappointed by the manner of what is one of his worst grand slam losses in terms of scoreline.

The result, meanwhile, brings an end to British singles hopes at a tournament where only three players even made the start line.

Norrie lost to Musetti in Barcelona recently but spoke positively after his second-round victory over Lucas Pouille about what he had learned from that clash.

He was immediately on the back foot, though, dropping serve in the opening game against the stylish Italian and swiftly losing the opening set.

The second was no better, with Musetti too often finding an answer to everything Norrie could throw at him, and the 17th seed went a break up early in the third as well.

Norrie was staring at his worst slam loss but he at least made a fist of it, breaking Musetti, who had lost from two sets up on both of his previous appearances at Roland Garros, back and creating three chances to break for 5-3.

The Italian held firm, though, and drilled a forehand past Norrie to break again before serving out the victory.

Carlos Alcaraz raced through to the Barcelona Open final as the defending champion set up a final showdown with Stefanos Tsitsipas.

With his 20th birthday approaching on May 5, world number two Alcaraz will have the chance on Sunday to land his ninth ATP title as a teenager.

Alcaraz crushed the hopes of first-time Barcelona semi-finalist Dan Evans, racing to a 6-2 6-2 victory over a player who was seeking to become the first British finalist at this tournament.

Earlier, Tsitsipas, who had not dropped serve en route to the semi-finals, had to dig deep for a 6-4 5-7 6-3 victory against Lorenzo Musetti, the Italian who beat Novak Djokovic in Monte Carlo last week.

Greek star Tsitsipas bizarrely has a 0-9 record in finals at ATP 500 level, the tier at which this tournament sits, despite having won two of his six title matches in elite ATP 1000 events.

Alcaraz will start as a firm favourite in the final. He holds a 3-0 career head-to-head lead over Tsitsipas from their past meetings, including a three-set win in the Barcelona quarter-finals last year.

That was a stormy encounter, with Alcaraz taking exception to almost being hit by a shot from Tsitsipas at the end of the opening set, so the rematch could be one to savour.

"It's so special to play a final here in Barcelona, a tournament I love playing," Alcaraz said on Prime Video. "I came to watch this tournament when I was very, very young, and I played for this club when I was 12, 11. I love this club, I love this tournament, and it's so special to have the chance to lift the trophy here again.

"Last year [against Tsitsipas] we had a spicy match, but I know he's a really nice guy off the court."

At the BMW Open in Munich, it was much the same story on Saturday.

Defending champion Holger Rune, another 19-year-old with a birthday approaching, in his case on April 29, earned another shot at the title.

Rune set up a Sunday showdown against Botic van de Zandschulp, in what will be a repeat of last year's final.

A resilient Rune lived up to his top seeding by ending Christopher O'Connell's fine run, which included a win against Alexander Zverev at the last-16 stage.

The 6-3 6-2 outcome masked the fact Rune saved eight break points as unseeded world number 82 O'Connell threatened to make it a tighter contest on the scoreboard than it turned out to be.

Van de Zandschulp then scored a fine win in the second semi-final as the Dutch fourth seed got the better of American second seed Taylor Fritz, winning 6-4 7-6 (7-2) 

Last year's trophy match ended in disappointment when Van de Zandschulp retired due to chest pains during the first set, with Rune saying it was "probably the worst way to win a final".

Rune has three ATP titles to his name, with 27-year-old Van de Zandschulp yet to lift a singles trophy.

Stefanos Tsitsipas breezed into the third round of the Barcelona Open with a straight-sets win over Pedro Cachin on Wednesday.   Tsitsipas took 79 minutes to see off Argentine Pedro Cachin 6-4 6-2 on Pista Rafa Nadal.   The second seed from Greece did not face a break point and won all three that he fashioned to set up a meeting with Canadian Denis Shapovalov, who got the better of Jozef Kovalik 6-4, 6-3.   Jannik Sinner, the fourth seed from Italy, eased to a 6-2 6-4 win over Diego Schwartzman at the Real Club de Tennis Barcelona-1899.   Cameron Norrie and Lorenzo Musetti will do battle in round three after defeating Pavel Kotov and Jason Kubler respectively in straight sets.   Karen Khachanov beat Nicolas Jarry 6-4 6-4, while Grigor Dimitrov, Dan Evans, Alex de Minaur, Yoshihito Nishioka and Francisco Cerundolo also celebrated midweek wins.   Rain hit the schedule hard at the BMW Open, where Aslan Karatsev was leading Daniel Altmaie 3-0 in the third set when play was suspended in the only singles action of the day.  

Novak Djokovic was "not really in the mood to speak" after suffering a jarring early defeat at the Monte Carlo Masters, but insisted he would bounce back.

The 35-year-old world number one was playing his 50th main-draw match at the tournament, but it did not go to plan as he lost 4-6 7-5 6-4 to Italian Lorenzo Musetti on Thursday.

Djokovic's post-match reaction exposed huge frustration, with his first competitive outing in over a month ending at the last-16 stage.

He was forced to miss the Indian Wells and Miami tournaments last month, being denied permission to enter the United States due to his refusal to accept a COVID-19 vaccination.

Hopes he had of a long run on the Monte Carlo clay have been scuppered, but the Serbian has plenty of time to find form in time for the French Open, which begins on May 28.

Defeat marked the first time Djokovic had failed to reach the quarter-finals in a tournament since last year's Monte Carlo event, when he lost his opening match to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

The loss to Musetti included an argument with the umpire over a line call, while Djokovic also smashed a racket in frustration at one point.

"The feeling is terrible after playing like this, honestly," Djokovic said. "But congrats to him. He stayed tough in important moments, and that's it.

"You always hope for the good day in the office, but I know I'm not playing so great and he's playing very well, so I knew it was going to be a tough match.

"I don't think it's catastrophic, but my feeling is bad right now because I lost the match. It's not a great day for me, so I'm not really in the mood to speak."

Djokovic is a two-time former winner of the ATP 1000 event but has not reached the semi-final stage since 2015, the year he was last champion.

He continues his clay campaign at a low level tournament next week in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Musetti moved on to face fellow Italian Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals. Victory over Djokovic made Musetti the first Italian man to beat the world number one in Monte Carlo since 1973, when the ATP rankings began.

Casper Ruud is through to the final four of the Estoril Open after a routine 6-3 6-0 victory against defending champion Sebastian Baez on Friday.

The number one seed dominated his Argentine opponent from the moment the first set went to 3-3, winning nine-straight games from there to ease to victory.

Ruud did need to save four break points in the second game of the second set, but his ability to hold serve seemed to end any resistance that Baez could muster.

The Norwegian will face Frenchman Quentin Halys in the semi-finals after his own straight-sets triumph over Dominic Thiem

Halys reached his first ever ATP Tour semi after recording a 6-1 6-4 win over the former world number three in just one hour and 19 minutes.

The other semi-final will see Miomir Kecmanovic take on Marco Cecchinato after the latter stunned third seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in straight sets.

The world number 96 claimed a 7-5 7-6 (7-5) victory in the first meeting between the pair to set up a last-four clash with Kecmanovic, who saw off sixth seed Bernabe Zapata Miralles with a comfortable 7-5 6-2 win.

Elsewhere, Dan Evans is the only seed remaining in the Grand Prix Hassan II as he reached the semi-finals by cruising to a 6-3 7-5 triumph over world number 201 Andrea Vavassori in Marrakech.

Evans will face Roberto Carballes Baena next after the Spaniard toppled fourth seed Tallon Griekspoor 6-3 2-6 6-2.

Second seed Lorenzo Musetti was beaten by Alexandre Muller 6-3 1-6 6-4 in a topsy-turvy encounter, and the Frenchman will now face Pavel Kotov in the final four after the Russian defeated Christopher O'Connell in a thriller, 6-3 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-3).

Hubert Hurkacz prevailed 6-7 (10-12) 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (8-6) in a thrilling three-and-a-half hour battle against Thanasi Kokkinakis during Saturday's second round of the Miami Open.

It was Hurkacz's first match of the tournament after the eighth seed received a bye through the first round, and he came up against a match-fit Kokkinakis after the Australian went three sets in his opening victory.

The world number nine had to save five Kokkinakis match points before sealing the win with his first chance, three hours and 34 minutes after the contest began.

Kokkinakis was not the only Australian on the day to go down in a gruelling three-setter as 15th seed Alex De Minaur fell 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (10-8) to Quentin Halys in three hours and 20 minutes.

It was far smoother sailing for fourth seed Daniil Medvedev in his 6-1 6-2 triumph over Roberto Carballes Baena, giving the Russian his first win since his 19-match unbeaten streak was ended at the hands of Carlos Alcaraz in the Indian Wells Open final.

The biggest upset of the day came from France's Gregoire Barrere as he eliminated 11th seed Cameron Norrie 6-3 6-2, before Adrian Mannarino ensured a great day for the French contingent with a 6-4 3-6 6-1 result against Ben Shelton in the late window.

Fifth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime needed a pair of tiebreakers to dispatch Brazil's Thiago Monteiro 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (10-8), while big-serving 19th seed Matteo Berrettini came out on the wrong side of some tiebreakers in his 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (7-5) loss to Mackenzie McDonald.

The skid from 18th seed Lorenzo Musetti continued as the 21-year-old went down 6-4 6-4 to Jiri Lehecka, giving the Italian seven losses from his past eight matches.

Karen Khachanov fought off the challenge of recent Chile Open finalist Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-1 3-6 6-3, and second seed Stefanos Tsisipas received a walkover as Richard Gasquet withdrew.

Second seed Casper Ruud suffered a shock three-sets second-round defeat to Japan's Taro Daniel at the Mexican Open in Acapulco on Wednesday.

The 2022 US Open and French Open runner-up had struggled past Guido Andreozzi in the first round and followed up that up with a 7-5 2-6 7-6 (7-5) loss to Daniel.

The Japanese qualifier, ranked 125th in the world, won in just under three hours, winning the final three points of the deciding tie-break after Ruud led 5-4.

Ruud had more winners (38-32) but committed 30 unforced errors compared to Daniel's 12.

Taylor Fritz cruised into the last eight with a 6-4 6-4 win over Canada's Denis Shapovalov, setting up a quarter-final with sixth seed Francis Tiafoe, who eased past Feliciano Lopez 6-2 7-6 (8-6).

Fourth seed Holger Rune was too strong for Nuno Borges 6-0 6-2 inside an hour, while eighth seed Alex De Minaur crushed Jacopo Berrettini in just over an hour 6-1 6-0.

Top seed Lorenzo Musetti was a surprise second-round loser at the Chile Open with Jaume Munar triumphing 6-4 6-4 in one hour and 31 minutes.

Fourth seed Diego Schwartzman also bowed out, going down 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7-2) to local Nicolas Jarry.

Jarry will face Yannick Hanfmann in the quarter-finals, while Munar will take on Thiago Monteiro.

Thiago Monteiro enjoyed a memorable victory on Monday as he defeated former world number three Dominic Thiem 6-1 3-6 7-6 (7-2) in his opening match of the Rio Open.

The highest-ranked Brazilian in the field made a winning start at South America's only ATP 500 event, but he had to work for it, emerging victorious after an 88-minute third set.

A raucous crowd cheered on every point down the stretch, and after saving four break point opportunities to force a tiebreaker, he jumped ahead to a 5-1 advantage and served it out.

He will face the winner between second seed Cameron Norrie and rising Argentine talent Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the next round.

Meanwhile, the top seed in action on Monday – third seed Lorenzo Musetti – continued his recent rough stretch of form with a disappointing 6-4 6-1 defeat at the hands of Chile's Nicolas Jarry.

Musetti, already ranked 18th in the world at 20 years old, has now lost four of his past five matches, while Jarry has won eight out of 10.

Jarry will play Spain's Pedro Martinez in the second round after he spoiled a potential all-Chilean matchup, eliminating Cristian Garin 7-6 (7-0) 6-4.

The only other Brazilian in action, Joao Fonseca, had no luck against Slovakia's Alex Molcan as he went down 6-0 6-3, while Bolivia's Hugo Dellien was similarly dominant in his 6-0 6-2 trouncing of Portugal's Joao Sousa.

After taking a set off world number two Carlos Alcaraz at last week's Argentina Open, Laslo Djere advanced into the second round as Facundo Bagnis retired in the second set while trailing 6-2 3-2.

World number two Carlos Alcaraz was too good in his Argentina Open quarter-final on Friday, defeating Dusan Lajovic 6-4 6-2.

The 19-year-old is playing in his first tournament of the year, and after dropping a set in his opener against Serbia's Laslo Djere, he had fewer problems against Djere's compatriot.

Alcaraz will play Bernabe Zapata Miralles in an all-Spanish semi-final after he eliminated Buenos Aires' own Francisco Cerundolo 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-3.

England's Cameron Norrie had to come from a set behind for the second match in a row to knock out Argentina's Tomas Martin Etcheverry 5-7 6-0 6-3, and he will meet Peru's Juan Pablo Varillas in the other semi-final.

Varillas collected arguably the biggest win of his career against world number 20 Lorenzo Musetti, and he is now two wins away from his first ATP Tour title.

Meanwhile, top seed and world number seven Taylor Fritz is through to the semi-final of the Delray Beach Open after fending off the challenge of veteran Adrian Mannarino 7-6 (10-8) 6-4.

Fritz has lost his past two meetings with Mackenzie McDonald, and he will get a chance at redemption after McDonald joined him in the semi-final with a 3-6 6-3 6-4 triumph over Michael Mmoh.

Fourth seed Miomir Kecmanovic joins Fritz as the only seeded players to reach the semi-finals after he saw off Marcos Giron 7-6 (7-5) 6-3, while second seed Tommy Paul was upset as a heavy favourite against Romania's Radu Albot 6-2 6-2.

Lorenzo Musetti won his opening match at the Argentina Open in comfortable fashion, defeating hometown hero Pedro Cachin 6-2 6-3 on Thursday.

World number 20 Musetti is still just 20 years old, making him the third-youngest player inside the top-40. The only younger players are 19-year-olds Carlos Alcaraz (world number two) and Holger Rune (world number nine).

The talented Italian has two ATP Tour titles to his name, but none outside of Europe, and he will hope to change that after he advanced to the quarter-finals in Buenos Aires.

Musetti will play Peru's Juan Pablo Varillas next after he prevailed 6-4 6-4 against former world number three Dominic Thiem.

Fifth seed Francisco Cerundolo did his part to set up an all-Argentine quarter-final clash after dominating Jaume Munar 6-2 6-1, but compatriot Diego Schwartzman could not hold up his end of the deal, falling 6-1 6-3 to Spain's Bernabe Zapata Miralles.

Meanwhile, world number seven Taylor Fritz made a winning start to his Delray Beach Open campaign, defeating Ecuador's Emilio Gomez 6-4 6-3.

Fritz will play France's Adrian Mannarino in the quarter-final after the 34-year-old veteran eliminated 24-year-old American J.J. Wolf 7-5 6-2.

Second seed Tommy Paul was too strong for Denis Kudla in a 6-3 6-4 triumph, and he will play Radu Albot for a place in the semi-final after the Romanian emerged the 6-4 6-4 victor against Australia's Aleksandar Vukic.

Iga Swiatek dragged Poland into the semi-finals of the United Cup with inspired performances in her singles and doubles matches against Italy.

Poland trailed after Lorenzo Musetti and Matteo Berrettini secured wins against Daniel Michalski and Hubert Hurkacz respectively, only for Swiatek and Magda Linette to level things with respective singles victories over Martina Trevisan and Lucia Bronzetti.

That sent the Brisbane city final to a decider in the mixed doubles, which Swiatek and Hurkacz won with ease 6-1 6-2 against Musetti and Camilla Rosatello, though there was a pause in the second set to dry rainfall on the court.

Despite defeat, Italy also advanced to the final four as the city finals loser with the best record.

It was more routine in Sydney as the United States eased to a 4-1 win against Great Britain.

Madison Keys came from a set down to beat Katie Swan, while Jessica Pegula eased past Harriet Dart 6-2 6-0 after Cameron Norrie had defeated Taylor Fritz in three sets.

Despite going a set behind, Frances Tiafoe came back to beat Dan Evans 3-6 7-5 6-3 to clinch the win for his country, before Pegula and Fritz added some gloss after beating Dart and Evans in the mixed doubles.

The third city final in Perth included a thriller as Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Borna Coric 6-0 6-7 (4-7) 7-5. Donna Vekic had no trouble getting Croatia on the board as she eased past Despina Papamichail 6-2 6-0.

Maria Sakkari put Greece 2-1 ahead when she beat Petra Martic 6-3 6-3, but Borna Gojo defeated Stefanos Sakellaridis in straight sets to make it 2-2.

However, Greece secured the win and their place in the last four after the pairing of Sakkari and Tsitsipas saw off Martic and Gojo 7-6 (8-6) 6-4.

Greece will take on Italy in the semi-finals, while Poland face the USA, with both taking place in Sydney on Friday.

Felix Auger-Aliassime is eager to cap a "special year" by leading Canada to Davis Cup glory on Sunday after playing a pivotal role in the semi-final win over Italy.

Standing in the way of Canada, who were runners-up in 2019 but have never won the event, are 28-time champions Australia after Lleyton Hewitt's team beat Croatia on Friday.

The Australians have had a day to recover from their efforts, while Canada's success came on Saturday and they must look to carry momentum into the title match in Malaga.

Lorenzo Sonego gave Italy a 1-0 lead over Canada by beating Denis Shapovalov 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 in an opening clash that lasted three hours and 14 minutes.

That piled pressure on Auger-Aliassime in the next rubber, as he took on Lorenzo Musetti, but it did not show as he powered to a 6-3 6-4 victory to tie the overall match and set up a decisive doubles contest.

Canada captain Frank Dancevic chose Auger-Aliassime over Shapovalov to partner Vasek Pospisil against Matteo Berrettini and Fabio Fognini, and the decision paid off as they earned a 7-6 (7-2) 7-5 win.

It has been a super 2022 already for Auger-Aliassime, who has won his first four singles titles on the ATP Tour and climbed to number six in the rankings, and the year could be crowned from his perspective with the most prized team trophy in men's tennis.

"It's been a special journey, special year," said Auger-Aliassime. "I think this is the most complete team that we have had in the history of Canadian tennis. I feel we deserve to be in that position now.

"I have said it many times throughout the years, this is one of the goals I think for all the guys to go far and to win it all.

"I'm really proud of everybody's effort. It's been a great journey. It's the last day tomorrow of Davis Cup for this year, so we're ready to give it all."

Canada will play Italy in the Davis Cup semi-finals after coming from behind to defeat Germany 2-1 in Malaga.

Initially a wildcard for the finals as the highest-ranked losing nation in the qualifiers, the 2019 runners-up are through to the last four for the second time in three years - and fourth time overall.

Felix Auger-Aliassime overcame Oscar Otte in straight sets - condemning him to a fourth straight singles defeat - to set up a doubles decider and cancel out Denis Shapovalov's earlier loss to Jan-Lennard Struff.

Shapovalov and Vasek Pospisil appeared in trouble when they lost the opening set 6-2 against Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz, who had won all eight Davis Cup matches when paired together.

But the Canadian duo, who hit a combined 11 aces during the contest, rallied to force a deciding set, which they took 6-3 to inflict a first defeat on their opponents.

Earlier in the day, Italy also came through a deciding doubles match to beat the USA and secure their first semi-final appearance since 2014.

Despite missing the injured Jannik Sinner and Matteo Berrettini, the Italians were appearing in their first quarter-final for six years, and they made a strong start with Lorenzo Sonego hitting 17 aces on the way to defeating Frances Tiafoe 6-3 7-6 (8-6).

Targeting only their fourth semi-final since 2007, 32-time winners USA rallied with Taylor Fritz overcoming Lorenzo Musetti in straight sets to force the first deciding double match of the finals.

There, just one break per set was enough for Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini to beat Tommy Paul and Jack Sock 6-3 6-3, and send the 1976 champions through.