Zizou Bergs, Raphael Collignon lead Belgium past France into Davis Cup semifinals

BOLOGNA, Italy (AP) — Zizou Bergs beat Arthur Rinderknech, 6-3, 7-6 (4), to send Belgium into the Davis Cup semifinals with an unassailable 2-0 lead over 10-time champion France on Tuesday.

Belgium had lost its last four meetings with France, including in the 2017 final. It will face either No. 1 Italy or Austria on Friday. The last two quarterfinals will be held Thursday, including No. 2 Germany against Argentina, and Spain against the No. 4-seeded Czech Republic.

Bergs was in control throughout and sealed the match with a superb forehand winner down the line.

Earlier, Raphael Collignon rallied past Corentin Moutet, 2-6, 7-5, 7-5, to give Belgium a 1-0 lead. Ties are played as a best-of-three matches: two singles and one doubles.

Both nations were back at this stage of the team competition since it was revamped in 2019. The Davis Cup Final 8 in Bologna is the sixth edition of the event to have the champion decided at a neutral site.

Moutet played solid tennis until the 12th game of the second set when he hit two double faults and fluffed an easy point at the net after trying a between-the-legs shot, dropping his serve as Collignon forced a decider.

A similar scenario unfolded in the third set as Collignon made the decisive break in the final game.

"It was a crazy match," Collignon said.

Spain is without top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, who withdrew earlier Tuesday because of a hamstring injury.