The Italian team Wins Record Third Consecutive Tennis Trophy Championship
The Italian player clinched one of the longest deciding set in team tennis history to overcome his Belgian opponent during the semi-finals
Flavio Cobolli alongside Matteo Berrettini led the Italian squad to team tennis glory as the home team defeated the Spanish team to capture a historic third successive championship in front of an ecstatic local supporters
48 hours after he narrowly won a marathon lengthy tie-break, Cobolli returned to starred as he fought back from a set and a break down to beat Jaume Munar in a grueling match
The 23-year-old's gritty comeback victory triumph secured a straight sets triumph for his nation in Bologna after his teammate had won in straight sets against the Spanish player
It is a fourth Davis Cup title overall for the Italian team, who are the initial country to achieve three consecutive titles since title holders stopped receiving automatic qualification to the final 53 years ago
Home Crowd Inspires Team Italy Triumph
Backed passionately by the vast majority of a sell-out capacity crowd, Cobolli overcame a slow start to trigger scenes of jubilation among the team players, staff and fans
Cobolli was mobbed by his team-mates on the playing surface but paused for a brief time to praise his opponent on his performance before rejoining the celebrations
Key Players Deliver in Missing Stars
Both the Italian squad and the Spanish team made the championship match even with missing star athletes, with the absence of top-ranked players denying fans a seventh meeting of 2025 between the world's dominant men's players
But, with Italian second-ranked another key player also missing, the Italian duo seized their moments in the spotlight with perfect records from three singles matches each this week
Thrilling Comeback Secures Win
The crowd chanted the player's moniker as he kept his calm to serve out his comeback victory to zero, having achieved the decisive break in the penultimate game of a nail-biting deciding set
That was no mean feat, given he had admitted he had achieved a "dream" in guiding his nation to the final on domestic ground
In contrast to the events of the previous match, when Cobolli tore off his jersey in celebration on "among the greatest" moments of his life, the ranked player faced the price for a slow start as he lost a dominant first set
But Cobolli launched a essential, immediate response after falling a behind at the start of the following set
The Italian's luck seemed to change after a brief stop in play when a spectator of the audience became ill
When play resumed, and with his opponent facing break point, the Italian lobbed over a volley that hit a fortunate net tape and put the set to deuce
Although frustratingly denied multiple opportunities on his opponent's serve, Cobolli wrested command of a decisive breaker to push the final set - where he once again delivered
Berrettini Extends Impressive Run
The Italian star had earlier extended his Davis Cup singles victory run to eleven consecutive wins with an superb performance against Carreno Busta
The Grand Slam finalist converted his decisive opportunity for a advantage before assuredly serving out the opener to zero
Having won the majority of points to secure the first set, the player appeared ready to tighten his grip on the match upon forcing opportunities in the opening game of the following set
His opponent managed to survive each before putting together a series of strong service games - but Berrettini seized his following chance and closed to zero to complete his victory