Jannik Sinner inspired reigning champions Italy to a comeback win over Argentina that secured a Davis Cup semi-final against Australia.
World number one Sinner kept Italy in the race after Lorenzo Musetti's loss to Francisco Cerundolo with a commanding win in straight sets over Sebastian Baez.
The 23-year-old then achieved a 6:4, 7:5 win against Andres Molteni and Maximo Gonzalez together with Matteo Berrettini in the decisive doubles match, thus completing the turnaround in Malaga.
In a repeat of last year's title decider, Italy will face Australia for a place in Sunday's final, having beaten the USA 2-1 the previous Thursday.
Sinner tried to cap off an outstanding singles season by helping Italy retain the Davis Cup, breaking Baez's serve twice in both sets, leading to a resounding win.
The in-form sinner won the ATP Finals title on Sunday to cap a year in which he also won the first two Grand Slam titles of his career, although he was also involved in one ongoing doping controversy.
World number 30 Cerundolo put in an outstanding performance to give Argentina the perfect start. He completed a 6-4, 6-1 victory over 17th-ranked Musetti by winning 12 of the last 15 games after an early break.
But Sinner, who only arrived in Spain on Tuesday – two days after his triumph in Turin – returned after his individual victory to team up with the excellent Berrettini and keep Italy's hopes of winning two titles in a row alive.
“The pitch is very fast and I didn't have much time to adapt, but the most important thing was to keep Italy alive,” Sinner said.
Italy captain Filippo Volandri said of Sinner's contribution: “He has never trained on this pitch since he arrived. Within three minutes.” [of his singles match] he felt completely comfortable. He is something special.
Italy is aiming to become only the sixth nation to retain the Davis Cup since the final tournament was introduced 52 years ago, and the first since the Czech Republic in 2013.
Germany defeated Canada on Wednesday to confirm a semi-final against the Netherlands on Friday, who eliminated Spain last tournament in Rafael Nadal's career.