The Italian team Wins Record Third Straight Davis Cup Title
Flavio Cobolli secured the sixth-longest deciding set in team tennis history to defeat his Belgian opponent on Friday
The young Italian star and Matteo Berrettini propelled the Italian squad to Davis Cup victory as the hosts defeated the Spanish team to capture a record-breaking third consecutive championship in front of an overjoyed local supporters
Two days following he edged an epic 32-point tie-break, Cobolli returned to excelled as he battled back from a set and a break down to overcome his Spanish opponent in three sets
The 23-year-old's gritty 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 win sealed a 2-0 win for his country in Bologna after Berrettini had won in straight sets against Pablo Carreno Busta
It is a fourth Davis Cup victory in total for Italy, who are the initial country to achieve three consecutive championships since defending champions stopped receiving automatic qualification to the final 53 years ago
Home Crowd Fuels Italian Triumph
Supported enthusiastically by the overwhelming number of a sell-out 10,000-strong audience, the Italian star conquered a slow start to trigger moments of jubilation among the Italian athletes, staff and supporters
Cobolli was surrounded by his teammates on court but took a moment to praise Munar on his efforts before rejoining the celebrations
Key Players Step Up in Missing Stars
Both Italy and Spain reached the championship match even with being without key players, with the non-participation of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner denying fans a seventh matchup of 2025 between the world's dominant men's players
But, with Italian number two another key player too missing, Cobolli and Berrettini owned their moments in the spotlight with three wins from three singles matches each this week
Dramatic Recovery Seals Victory
The audience chanted 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 deciding set
That was quite an accomplishment, given he had stated he had achieved a "goal" in delivering Italy to Sunday's final on home soil
In opposition to the scenes of the previous match, when Cobolli tore off his shirt in jubilation on "among the greatest" days of his life, the world number 22 paid the consequence for a poor beginning as he conceded a dominant opening set
But the determined player initiated a necessary, swift comeback after falling a behind at the start of the second
The Italian's fortunes seemed to shift after a nine-minute pause in play when a member of the audience became ill
When the match continued, and with his opponent down a critical moment, the Italian lobbed over a shot that hit a lucky net cord and brought the game back on level terms
Although annoyingly prevented multiple opportunities on his rival's serve, Cobolli seized command of a must-win tie-break to force the decider - where he yet again performed
Berrettini Continues Remarkable Run
The Italian star had previously extended his team competition individual winning streak 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 won 11 of the last 13 points to secure the first set, Berrettini appeared ready to strengthen his grip on the contest upon forcing two break points in the opening game of the second
His opponent succeeded to survive each before putting together a series of strong serving performances - but the Italian seized his following chance and closed to zero to finish his victory