TURIN (AFP) - Croatia dumped out much-fancied Italy in the Davis Cup quarter-finals on Monday (Nov 29) as Olympic men's doubles champions Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic brushed aside Jannik Sinner and Fabio Fognini in a deciding match.

The Italians were one of the favourites for the title but paid for Lorenzo Sonego's shock defeat by world No. 279 Borna Gojo in the first singles rubber in Turin.

Singles world No. 10 Sinner forced a deciding doubles with a dramatic victory over Marin Cilic, but he could not complete the job against the top two ranked doubles players as Mektic and Pavic won 6-3, 6-4 to silence the home crowd.

Croatia will next face either Novak Djokovic's Serbia or Kazakhstan in the semi-finals in Madrid.

"Honestly, it feels incredible. I don't think anyone expected us to get this far and it feels amazing to be going to Madrid," said Mektic.

Croatia are bidding for a third Davis Cup title and second in three stagings of the event after lifting the trophy in 2018.

Last year's edition was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This win confirms their place at next year's Davis Cup Finals, with the four semi-finalists guaranteed qualification.

"It was very tight but my players fought so well. I'm so happy," said Croatian captain Vedran Martic.