The Italian team Clinches Record Third Consecutive Davis Cup Title
Flavio Cobolli clinched one of the longest deciding set in team tennis records to overcome Belgium's Zizou Bergs during the semi-finals
Flavio Cobolli and Matteo Berrettini propelled the Italian squad to Davis Cup glory as the hosts overcame Spain to capture a historic third consecutive championship in front of an jubilant home crowd
48 hours following he edged a marathon 32-point tie-break, Cobolli once again excelled as he fought back from a set and a break down to defeat Jaume Munar in a grueling match
The 23-year-old's gritty 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 triumph clinched a 2-0 win for his nation in Bologna after Berrettini had prevailed in straight sets against Pablo Carreno Busta
It is a fourth overall team championship title overall for Italy, who are the first nation to achieve three straight championships since defending champions no longer received automatic qualification to the final 53 years ago
Local Supporters Fuels Italian Victory
Backed passionately by the overwhelming number of a packed capacity crowd, Cobolli overcame a poor beginning to spark moments of celebration among the team athletes, staff and fans
Cobolli was mobbed by his teammates on court but took a brief time to praise Munar on his performance before rejoining the festivities
Key Players Step Up in Absence
Both the Italian squad and the Spanish team reached the championship match despite being without key players, with the absence of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner preventing spectators a seventh meeting of the season between the world's dominant tennis stars
But, with Italian number two another key player too missing, the Italian duo owned their opportunities in the limelight with perfect records from all their matches each this week
Dramatic Recovery Secures Win
The audience shouted Cobolli's name as he maintained his calm to serve out his recovery triumph to zero, having achieved the breakthrough in the 11th game of a nail-biting final set
That was quite an accomplishment, given he had stated he had realized a "goal" in guiding Italy to Sunday's showpiece on domestic ground
In contrast to the events of Friday night, when Cobolli removed his jersey in celebration on "among the greatest" moments of his career, the ranked player faced the price for a slow start as he lost a one-sided first set
But Cobolli launched a essential, immediate comeback after going a break down at the beginning of the following set
Cobolli's luck seemed to shift after a nine-minute stop in the match when a spectator of the crowd became unwell
When the match continued, and with his opponent facing break point, the player floated over a shot that hit a fortunate net tape and brought the set to deuce
Even though frustratingly prevented four set points on his opponent's service game, Cobolli wrested control of a must-win tie-break to push the decider - where he once again performed
The Veteran Continues Remarkable Winning Streak
The Italian star had previously taken his team competition singles winning streak to eleven consecutive wins with an superb performance against Carreno Busta
The Grand Slam finalist used his third break point for a 5-3 lead before assuredly closing the opener to love
Having won the majority of points to secure the first set, Berrettini looked set to strengthen his grip on the match upon creating two break points in the opening game of the following set
His opponent succeeded to survive each before producing a sequence of strong serving performances - but Berrettini seized his next opportunity and served out to love to finish his triumph