Lucas Pouille kept his focus when Fabio Fognini began throwing his racket in frustration during a 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3), 6-3 victory that put France into the Davis Cup semifinals Sunday.
Defending champion France took an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five series with Italy.
Fognini threw his racket twice upon failing to take advantage of opportunities late in the third set.
On the first occasion, Fognini slammed his racket on the red clay court then broke it clean in half across his knee.
A couple of points later, after Pouille saved three set points to even the set at 5-5, Fognini threw his racket into a courtside chair in the vicinity of a ball boy.
"There is always pressure on Davis Cup," the 11th-ranked Pouille said. "You want to do well for your friends, family, fans and all the team and that's why it leaves this spicy taste in the Davis Cup."
In the fourth set, France captain Yannick Noah protested to the chair umpire when the crowd attempted to bother Pouille while he served.
That prompted the umpire to make an announcement urging silence and sportsmanship.
"The fans were incredible," Pouille said. "They were fair and they were just noisy for us."
Pouille served well under pressure, hitting seven aces overall to Fognini's two. The Frenchman also committed only 16 unforced errors to Fognini's 28.
"I think I was more consistent over the match," Pouille said. "I had a tough first set but I kept trying and was playing better and better and it was a great effort to come back and win this one."
It's the third straight year that France has reached the semifinals.
"I'm sure we are going to have some good wine," Noah said of his team's celebration plans.
France will next meet either Spain or Germany.
Nadal keeps Spain alive against Germany
With Rafael Nadal nervously cheering courtside after winning his match earlier Sunday, David Ferrer sealed Spain's 3-2 comeback win over Germany in the Davis Cup quarterfinals with a thrilling five-set victory against Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Ferrer needed nearly five hours to defeat Kohlschreiber 7-6 (1), 3-6, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-5 at the packed bull ring in Valencia, guaranteeing Spain's return to the semifinals for the first time since 2012. Spain will now face France, which defeated Italy 3-1.
Nadal and the local crowd erupted in celebration when the 33rd-ranked Ferrer successfully served for the match after breaking Kohlschreiber's serve in the previous game. Kohlschreiber, No. 34 in the world, ended with 114 unforced errors.
Spain extended its winning streak at home to 27 ties. Italy holds the Davis Cup record with a 29-tie unbeaten run at home from 1949-64. Spain hasn't lost a tie as host since the first round in 1999 against Brazil.
Top-ranked Nadal cruised to a 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 win over fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev in the first match Sunday to keep Spain alive after entering the day trailing 2-1.
Nadal was dominant against the 20-year-old German to earn his 24th straight win since 2005, the most in Davis Cup history combining singles and doubles.
Nadal had easily defeated Kohlschreiber on Friday in what was his first match since the Australian Open in January because of a right hip injury. Zverev had given Germany a 1-0 lead by defeating Ferrer in three sets. Germany also won the doubles match on Saturday.
Croatia in semifinals after beating Kazakhstan
Marin Cilic put away Mikhail Kukushkin 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 to send Croatia into the Davis Cup semifinals on Sunday.
Cilic clinched the quarterfinal against Kazakhstan 3-1 on indoor clay after the two-hour match, the easiest of his three straight wins over Kukushkin.
Cilic didn't serve to his usual standard but saved all four break points against him, broke Kukushkin seven times, and hit twice as many winners.
Craotia, which has staged both of its ties this year, will also host the United States on Sept. 14-16, likely on clay. Croatia hasn't lost a tie on clay in five years.
The Croatians have a 4-0 win-loss record against the Americans. They last met in the 2016 quarterfinals, en route to Croatia's second final appearance.
The national-record 36 Davis Cup match wins by Ivan Ljubicic, leader of the 2005 team which won Croatia's only Davis Cup title, was equaled by Cilic.