Italy Clinches Historic Third Consecutive Tennis Trophy Title
Flavio Cobolli won one of the longest deciding set in team tennis records to beat his Belgian opponent during the semi-finals
The young Italian star alongside his compatriot propelled the Italian squad to team tennis victory as the hosts overcame Spain to secure a record-breaking three-peat title in front of an jubilant home crowd
Two days after he narrowly won a marathon 32-point tie-break, Cobolli once again shone as he recovered from behind in sets to defeat Jaume Munar in a grueling match
The 23-year-old's gritty 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 win secured a straight sets victory for his nation in Bologna after his teammate had prevailed 6-3 6-4 against the Spanish player
It is a fourth Davis Cup title in total for the Italian team, who are the first nation to win three consecutive titles since title holders stopped receiving direct entry to the final over five decades back
Home Crowd Fuels Italian Triumph
Backed passionately by the overwhelming number of a packed 10,000-strong crowd, Cobolli conquered a poor beginning to spark scenes of jubilation among the Italian players, staff and fans
The champion was mobbed by his teammates on the playing surface but paused for a moment to praise Munar on his efforts before returning to the festivities
Key Players Deliver in Absence
Both Italy and Spain made the championship match even with missing star athletes, with the absence of top-ranked players denying fans a seventh matchup of the season between the world's dominant men's players
But, with national second-ranked Lorenzo Musetti too absent, Cobolli and Berrettini owned their moments in the spotlight with perfect records from three singles matches each this week
Dramatic Comeback Seals Victory
The audience chanted the player's moniker as he maintained his calm to serve out his comeback victory to zero, having achieved the breakthrough in the penultimate game of a nail-biting deciding set
That was quite an accomplishment, given he had admitted he had realized a "goal" in guiding his nation to the final on domestic ground
In contrast to the scenes of Friday night, when Cobolli tore off his shirt in jubilation on "among the greatest" days of his career, the world number 22 paid the price for a poor beginning as he lost a dominant opening set
But Cobolli initiated a essential, swift response after going a behind at the start of the second
The Italian's luck appeared to change after a nine-minute pause in play when a member of the crowd became ill
When the match continued, and with Munar facing a critical moment, the Italian lobbed over a volley that caught a fortunate net tape and brought the set back on level terms
Although annoyingly denied four set points on his rival's service game, the champion seized control of a must-win breaker to force the decider - where he once again delivered
Berrettini Continues Impressive Run
Berrettini had previously taken his Davis Cup individual victory run to 11 matches with an superb display against Carreno Busta
The Grand Slam finalist used his decisive opportunity for a advantage before assuredly serving out the opener to love
Having taken the majority of points to take the opening set, Berrettini looked set to strengthen his grip on the contest upon creating opportunities in the opening game of the second
Carreno Busta succeeded to save both before putting together a series of solid serving performances - but Berrettini took his following chance and served out to love to finish his victory