TURIN - Crotia's Borna Gojo produced another shock as he beat Italy's Lorenzo Sonego to give his country the lead in their Davis Cup Finals last-eight clash on Monday.
The 23-year-old Gojo, ranked 279th in the world, blocked out the partisan Italian crowd inside the Pala Alpitour Arena, to win 7-6(2) 2-6 6-2 against top-30 player Sonego.
Italy's Jannik Sinner will now need to beat former U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic in the second singles to keep the tie alive and set up a deciding doubles rubber.
Gojo looked tight early on and found himself 4-1 down in the first set but hit back impressively to claim the tiebreak.
Sonego looked to have turned the tide when he eased through the second set but Gojo, serving brilliantly, forged ahead in the decider and showed great resilience to save break points and hold a marathon service game serve at 4-2.
Gojo, who upset Australia's higher-ranked Alexei Popyrin in the group phase last week, claimed victory when Sonego struck a forehand over the baseline.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Ken Ferris)