Summary

  • Result: Italy 3-2 Great Britain

  • Seppi beats Ward 6-4 6-3 6-4

  • Fognini beats Murray 6-3 6-3 6-4

  • Italy into first semi-final since 1998

  • GB's best Davis Cup campaign for 28 years

Live Reporting

Mike Henson

  1. Player reaction

    Fabio FogniniReuters

    Fabio Fognini tells BBC Sport that Italy are 51% favourites to win the Davis Cup tie with Great Britain following his victory over Andy Murray. "Now we are 51-49," he says. "Today I just played better than Andy. We know this sport really is difficult and Andy played a lot yesterday. I just focussed on my game and tried and do my best.

    "The crowd is always difficult in the Davis Cup. But the support was unbelievable. I am really happy. Of course we are confident about winning the tie. But anything van happen and James Ward is a really good player and played well against me."

  2. Jonathan Overend
    BBC Sport commentator

    "Fognini was too strong for Murray on the day. Now Italy have to be favourites."

  3. Fabio Fognini bounces around the court, bellowing to the stands and they respond, hailing their hero.

    The shirt comes off, each of his team-mates is enveloped in a sweaty bear-hug and girlfriend Flavia Pennetta looks on admiringly from on high.

    Meanwhile away from the maelstrom on the main court, James Ward is knocking up in front of empty seats.

    His match against Andreas Seppi is 20 minutes away and is winner takes all.

  4. Jonathan Overend
    BBC Sport commentator

    "The noise inside the court has just reverberated all the way up the coast to Rome."

  5. GAME, SET AND MATCH

    Italy v Great BritainGetty Images

    Fabio Fognini hitting with depth and accuracy brings up three match points at 0-40. The crowd are sensing blood. "Italia, Italia," they chant. Murray saves the first as the Italian nets.

    First serve missed. The crowd lap it up. But Murray salvages a second for 30-40. The third goes south though. Murray into the net and James Ward, it is up to you...

  6. John Lloyd
    Former British number one on BBC TV

    "Andy did absolutely everything right there, but that was just inspirational tennis from Fognini. How on earth. . . . where did he get that from? That was remarkable."

  7. Fabio Fognini responds in kind with a service hold to love, sealing the last point with an extraordinary fetch and flick at the front of the court. Andy Murray's head lolls, chin bouncing off his sternum, as he trudges to his stool.

    "What more can I do?," he'll be asking himself. And it is difficult to answer that for him. Fognini has been superb.

  8. No margin for error for Andy Murray this late in the set and he whistles through a service game to love.

  9. Fabio Fognini is still steamrollering. Forty-love up on the board and although Andy Murray nibbles one back to spark some shouts of encouragement from the British benches, there is no way back for the Wimbledon champion.

    Fognini buries his head in a towel at the changeover. Understandable with the sun getting high and hot in the sky. Less so is the Italian spitting into the towel and then plunging his face back into it. Not sure about that at all.

  10. Dominic Inglot
    British doubles player talking to BBC Radio 5 live

    "Andy's having a very difficult time, Fognini's full of confidence. Sometimes players use a negative crowd as fuel. That's something Andy can do right now."

  11. Get Involved

    Great Britain's Andy Murray in Davis Cup action against ItalyGetty Images

    Default Girl on Twitter: British fans have no right to whine about Italian fans. Did they think about anyone else during Olympics and Wimbledon?

    Mel Dodd on Twitter: The British crowd need to become more of a rowdy barmy army. The Wimbledon etiquette won't do us any favours here.

    Colin Laird on Twitter: Fognini is feeding off the crowd. That's giving him lots of confidence. Every shot is coming off.

  12. Fabio Fognini punches his thigh in frustration as Andy Murray grinds him down for 30-15. Razor-sharp, high-definition accuracy from the Italian as he streaks a winner across the sideline in the next point, but he misses a very makeable second-serve return next and what could have been 30-40 is 40-30.

    Murray makes the most of that error and he is still level in the set, even if Fognini has had the best of the play.

  13. BBC Radio 5 live

    Neil Harman, tennis correspondent for The Times newspaper, in Naples tells BBC Radio 5 live: "Fognini is on the verge of an historic win. It's great to watch him play. He looks for all the world as though he is strolling on the promenade, but there's bound to be some nerves on the inside."

  14. Fabio Fognini double-faults on the opening point. But every mistake so far from the Italian has been a blip rather than the start of a full-scale collapse.

    Andy Murray misses a second-serve return on the next point and that is his chance gone as Fognini manoeuvres him around the court and then flays a big ace out wide to wrap up the game.

  15. Andy Murray, with a fresh shirt out of the bag, hangs onto his serve, losing a couple of points, but shaking his head confidently as Fabio Fognini asks for his opinion on his final forehand.

    Murray is doing a good job of loitering in this set, ready to ambush Fognini if his level drops.

  16. BBC Radio 5 live

    Neil Harman, tennis correspondent for The Times newspaper, in Naples tells BBC Radio 5 live: "Murray is an educated man and knows the game inside out. He knows all the characters and knows Fognini can implode. That may well happen in the not too distant future."

  17. Andy Murray slugs a backhand down the line to take the game to deuce and the crowd suddenly sound a little anxious. The home fans at least.

    The locals are then aggrieved as Murray revs up his backers following a netted Fognini forehand and greet Murray's next error with massive cheers.

    Their man holds onto his serve and they raise the atmosphere another couple of decibels.

    There is some needle out there in the stands. I think the visiting fans are short of numbers and long in the tooth if it came to anything physical. They had better just keep straining the vocal cords.

  18. John Lloyd
    Former British number one on BBC Radio 5 live

    "This is where Andy has to impose himself, and show Fognini 'you have still got to beat me and get another set. I am the winner of two Grand Slams'."

  19. Andy Murray is flicking through his tactical gameplans, trying to find something that gives Fabio Fognini some second thoughts. He chips and charges behind a serve out of the blue to move to 30-15 and aided by a rare missed drop-shot from his opponent takes the game.

  20. Get Involved

    Italy v Great Britain Davis CupGetty Images

    Andy Turner on Twitter: As Murray gets a pasting, someone is complaining about the etiquette of Italian fans.

    David Law on Twitter: Murray has come back from 0-2 loads of times, including Davis Cup v Andy Ram in Eastbourne. But Andy Ram is no Fabio Fognini.

    Julie McLean on Twitter: Starting to get a little worried.