Italy Wins Record Third Consecutive Tennis Trophy Championship
Flavio Cobolli clinched the sixth-longest deciding set in team tennis records to defeat Belgium's Zizou Bergs on Friday
Flavio Cobolli alongside Matteo Berrettini led the Italian squad to Davis Cup victory as the home team defeated the Spanish team to claim a record-breaking three-peat title in front of an ecstatic home crowd
48 hours after he narrowly won a marathon 32-point decider, the Italian talent once again excelled as he battled back from behind in sets to overcome Jaume Munar in three sets
The young player's tenacious comeback victory success clinched a straight sets victory for his nation in Bologna after Berrettini had prevailed in straight sets against Pablo Carreno Busta
It is a fourth team championship title in total for Italy, who are the first nation to win three straight titles since title holders no longer received automatic qualification to the final 53 years ago
Home Crowd Fuels Team Italy Victory
Backed passionately by the overwhelming number of a sell-out 10,000-strong audience, the Italian star conquered a slow start to spark scenes of jubilation among the team players, coaches and supporters
The champion was mobbed by his teammates on the playing surface but paused for a brief time to praise Munar on his performance before rejoining the festivities
Key Players Step Up in Absence
Both the Italian squad and Spain reached the final despite missing star athletes, with the non-participation of top-ranked players denying spectators a seventh matchup of 2025 between the top-ranked tennis stars
But, with national number two another key player too missing, Cobolli and Berrettini seized their moments in the limelight with perfect records from three singles matches each this week
Dramatic Comeback Secures Victory
The audience shouted the player's name as he kept his calm to serve out his recovery triumph to love, having forced the decisive break in the 11th game of a tense deciding set
That was no mean feat, given he had stated he had realized a "dream" in delivering his nation to Sunday's showpiece on domestic ground
In contrast to the events of the previous match, when Cobolli tore off his shirt in jubilation on "among the greatest" moments of his life, the world number 22 paid the consequence for a poor beginning as he lost a dominant opening set
But the determined player launched a necessary, swift comeback after going a break down at the start of the following set
Cobolli's luck seemed to shift after a nine-minute pause in the match when a spectator of the crowd became unwell
When play resumed, and with Munar down a critical moment, the Italian floated over a shot that hit a fortunate net tape and brought the set to deuce
Even though annoyingly denied four set points on his rival's serve, the champion seized control of a decisive tie-break to push the final set - where he once again delivered
Berrettini Extends Remarkable Run
The Italian star had earlier taken his Davis Cup singles victory run to 11 matches with an superb performance against the Spanish opponent
The Grand Slam finalist used his decisive opportunity for a 5-3 lead before confidently closing the first set to zero
Having won 11 of the last 13 points to secure the first set, Berrettini appeared ready to strengthen his grip on the match upon creating two break points in the opening game of the following set
Carreno Busta succeeded to save both before putting together a sequence of solid service games - but the Italian seized his next opportunity and closed to zero to complete his victory