The Italian team Secures Historic Third Consecutive Tennis Trophy Title
Flavio Cobolli won the sixth-longest deciding set in Davis Cup history to beat Belgium's Zizou Bergs on Friday
Flavio Cobolli alongside Matteo Berrettini guided Italy to team tennis victory as the home team overcame the Spanish team to claim a record-breaking third consecutive title in front of an overjoyed home crowd
Two days after he edged an epic lengthy tie-break, Cobolli returned to shone as he fought back from a set and a break down to defeat his Spanish opponent in a grueling match
The 23-year-old's gritty 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 triumph clinched a straight sets win for his country in the Italian city after Berrettini had prevailed in straight sets against Pablo Carreno Busta
It is a fourth overall team championship title overall for the Italian team, who are the first nation to achieve three consecutive titles since defending champions stopped receiving direct entry to the final 53 years ago
Local Supporters Fuels Team Italy Triumph
Backed enthusiastically by the overwhelming number of a sell-out capacity audience, the Italian star conquered a poor beginning to spark scenes of celebration among the team players, staff and fans
Cobolli was surrounded by his team-mates on court but paused for a brief time to commend Munar on his efforts before returning to the celebrations
Star Performers Deliver in Missing Stars
Both the Italian squad and Spain made the championship match despite missing key players, with the absence of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner denying fans a seventh matchup of 2025 between the world's dominant tennis stars
But, with national second-ranked another key player also missing, Cobolli and Berrettini owned their opportunities in the spotlight with perfect records from three singles matches each this week
Thrilling Comeback Seals Win
The crowd shouted Cobolli's moniker as he maintained his composure to serve out his recovery victory to love, having forced the decisive break in the penultimate game of a tense final set
That was no mean feat, given he had admitted he had realized a "goal" in delivering his nation to Sunday's final on home soil
In opposition to the scenes of Friday night, when Cobolli tore off his jersey in jubilation on "among the greatest" days of his career, the world number 22 paid the price for a slow start as he conceded a dominant opening set
But Cobolli initiated a essential, swift response after falling a behind at the beginning of the following set
The Italian's fortunes appeared to shift after a nine-minute pause in play when a spectator of the crowd became ill
When the match continued, and with his opponent down break point, the Italian floated over a volley that hit a fortunate net tape and put the set to deuce
Although annoyingly denied multiple opportunities on his rival's service game, Cobolli wrested control of a decisive tie-break to force the final set - where he yet again delivered
The Veteran Extends Impressive Run
Berrettini had earlier taken his team competition individual victory run to eleven consecutive wins with an excellent display against the Spanish opponent
The former Wimbledon runner-up used his decisive opportunity for a 5-3 lead before assuredly closing the opener to zero
Having taken the majority of points to secure the opening set, Berrettini looked set to strengthen his grip on the contest upon creating two break points in the initial game of the second
Carreno Busta managed to survive each before putting together a series of strong serving performances - but the Italian seized his next opportunity and served out to zero to complete his victory