Olympic champions Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani saved three set points in the first set and fought back from 5-1 down in the second set of the deciding doubles against Iga Swiatek and Katarzyna Kawa to claim a 7-5 7-5 win and clinch a 2-1 semi-final victory in Malaga, Spain, on Monday night.
They will now try to go one better than last year, when they were beaten in the final by Canada, and will be favourites in the title decider on Wednesday. Great Britain and Slovakia meet in the second semi-final on Tuesday.
Lucia Bronzetti began the tie by defeating Magda Linette 6-4 7-6 (7-3), but Swiatek recovered from a set down to claim a 3-6 6-4 6-4 victory over Paolini in a rematch of the French Open final.
That set up the deciding doubles with Swiatek and Paolini - the two-highest ranked players in the tournament - again on opposite sides of the net.
"It was tough, the intensity was insane, I was so tired but I had to give it all to my team and my country," Paolini said.
"I was sad after losing to Iga in singles but I went to the locker room and tried to be positive because I knew my team mates needed me."
Ultimately it was the Italians who came out on top, Errani hitting an underarm serve on match point for her 28th win in the competition.
That took the 37-year-old past Francesca Schiavone to become Italy's most successful player in the tournament's history.
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