Canada beat Germany 2-1 to reach the Davis Cup semi-finals where they will face Italy who advanced earlier on Thursday with a stunning upset of the United States in Malaga, Spain.

Italy remained on course for a first Davis Cup crown since 1976 with a stunning 2-1 win over record winners United States as the doubles pair of Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini beat Jack Sock and Tommy Paul in a thrilling decider.

Taking to the court after American Taylor Fritz levelled the tie at 1-1 after Lorenzo Sonego gave Italy a shock lead, Bolelli and Fognini produced a flawless display in their 6-4 6-4 win to help their nation reach the semis for the first time since 2014.

Earlier, Sonego held his nerve in a tight second set to get past Frances Tiafoe 6-3 7-6(7) and put Italy – who are without the injured duo of Matteo Berrettini and Jannik Sinner – ahead.

Meanwhile, Vasek Pospisil and Denis Shapovalov clinched the winning point for Canada with a 2-6 6-3 6-3 triumph over Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz in the decisive doubles match.

"It's really tough because we don't play too much doubles throughout the year so it's a challenge to be sharp out there but given the circumstances I thought we played extremely well, especially as the match went on," Pospisil said in his on-court interview.

After dropping the first set, Pospisil and Shapovalov found their footing and consolidated early breaks in the second and third sets before sealing the win on their second match point when Shapovalov ripped a crosscourt forehand winner. 

Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime had forced the decider when he brushed aside Oscar Otte 7-6(1) 6-4 after Jan-Lennard Struff gave Germany an early lead with a 6-3 4-6 7-6(2) win over Shapovalov.

Canada, whose best finish in the competition came in 2019 when they finished runners-up to Spain, will play Italy on Saturday while Australia and Croatia meet on Friday in the other semi-final.

The title clash takes place on Sunday.

(With input from agencies)