Italy Clinches Historic Third Straight Tennis Trophy Title
Flavio Cobolli secured the sixth-longest tie-break in team tennis history to overcome his Belgian opponent during the semi-finals
Flavio Cobolli and his compatriot led Italy to team tennis glory as the home team beat the Spanish team to secure a record-breaking third successive championship in front of an ecstatic local supporters
48 hours after he edged a marathon 32-point tie-break, the Italian talent once again excelled as he battled back from behind in sets to defeat his Spanish opponent in a grueling match
The 23-year-old's gritty comeback victory success clinched a straight sets win for his country in the Italian city after his teammate had prevailed in straight sets against Pablo Carreno Busta
It is a fourth overall Davis Cup victory overall for the Italian team, who are the first nation to achieve three straight championships since title holders stopped receiving automatic qualification to the final over five decades back
Home Crowd Inspires Italian Triumph
Backed passionately by the overwhelming number of a packed 10,000-strong crowd, the Italian star conquered a poor beginning to spark scenes of jubilation among the Italian players, staff and fans
Cobolli was mobbed by his team-mates on the playing surface but paused for a brief time to commend his opponent on his performance before rejoining the festivities
Star Performers Deliver in Missing Stars
Both Italy and the Spanish team reached the final even with being without key players, with the absence of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner preventing spectators a seventh matchup of the season between the world's dominant men's players
But, with national number two Lorenzo Musetti also missing, the Italian duo owned their moments in the limelight with three wins from three singles matches apiece this week
Thrilling Comeback Secures Victory
The audience shouted Cobolli's name as he kept his composure to close out his recovery victory to zero, having forced the breakthrough in the 11th game of a tense deciding set
That was quite an accomplishment, given he had admitted he had realized a "goal" in guiding Italy to the showpiece on domestic ground
In contrast to the scenes of the previous match, when Cobolli removed his jersey in celebration on "one of the best" days of his career, the ranked player paid the price for a slow start as he conceded a one-sided first set
But Cobolli launched a essential, swift response after falling a behind at the start of the second
Cobolli's luck appeared to change after a brief stop in play when a member of the crowd became unwell
When the match resumed, and with Munar facing a critical moment, the Italian lobbed over a shot that caught a fortunate net tape and brought the game to deuce
Even though frustratingly prevented multiple opportunities on his rival's service game, the champion seized command of a must-win breaker to force the final set - where he yet again delivered
The Veteran Continues Remarkable Run
Berrettini had previously taken his Davis Cup singles winning streak to eleven consecutive wins with an superb display against the Spanish opponent
The Grand Slam finalist used his third break point for a 5-3 lead before confidently closing the opener to zero
Having won 11 of the last 13 points to take the first set, the player looked set to tighten his grip on the match upon creating opportunities in the initial game of the second
His opponent managed to survive each before putting together a series of strong serving performances - but the Italian took his following chance and closed to love to finish his triumph