Australia defeated record 28-time Davis Cup winners the United States in a decisive doubles rubber on Thursday to reach the semi-finals with a hard-fought 2-1 victory.Later Thursday Jannik Sinner's Italy,

Thanasi Kokkinakis emerged from a tight-as-can-be tiebreaker by saving four match points and eventually converting his seventh to get past Ben Shelton 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (14) and give Australia a 1-0 lead over the United States in the Davis Cup quarterfinals on Thursday.

Shelton, the world No. 21, had earlier come out on the wrong side of 30-point tiebreak against world No. 78 Thanasi Kokkinakis, falling to a 1-6, 6-4, 6-7 (14) defeat. Taylor Fritz, America’s top-ranked singles player and this year’s U.S. Open finalist, beat Alex De Minaur 6-3, 6-4 to force the deciding rubber.