The Italian team Clinches Historic Third Straight Tennis Trophy Title
The Italian player won one of the longest deciding set in team tennis records to beat his Belgian opponent during the semi-finals
Flavio Cobolli alongside his compatriot guided the Italian squad to Davis Cup success as the hosts beat the Spanish team to capture a record-breaking three-peat title in front of an overjoyed home crowd
48 hours after he edged an epic 32-point decider, the Italian talent once again starred as he recovered from behind in sets to overcome his Spanish opponent in three sets
The young player's tenacious comeback victory triumph clinched a straight sets victory for his nation in Bologna after his teammate had triumphed 6-3 6-4 against Pablo Carreno Busta
It is a fourth overall team championship victory overall for Italy, who are the initial country to win three straight titles since defending champions no longer received automatic qualification to the championship match over five decades back
Home Crowd Fuels Italian Victory
Backed passionately by the vast majority of a packed 10,000-strong crowd, Cobolli overcame a poor beginning to trigger scenes of celebration among the team athletes, staff and supporters
The champion was surrounded by his teammates on court but took a brief time to commend his opponent on his efforts before rejoining the celebrations
Key Players Step Up in Missing Stars
Both Italy and Spain made the final even with being without key players, with the non-participation of top-ranked players preventing spectators a seventh meeting of 2025 between the top-ranked tennis stars
But, with Italian second-ranked another key player too absent, Cobolli and Berrettini seized their moments in the spotlight with perfect records from three singles matches each during the tournament
Thrilling Comeback Seals Victory
The audience chanted the player's moniker as he kept his calm to serve out his recovery triumph to zero, having forced the decisive break in the 11th game of a tense final set
That was no mean feat, given he had stated he had achieved a "dream" in guiding his nation to Sunday's final on domestic ground
In contrast to the events of Friday night, when the athlete tore off his shirt in jubilation on "among the greatest" days of his life, the world number 22 faced the consequence for a slow start as he conceded a one-sided first set
But Cobolli launched a essential, immediate comeback after falling a break down at the beginning of the second
Cobolli's fortunes seemed to shift after a nine-minute stop in the match when a member of the audience became ill
When play resumed, and with his opponent down break point, the player floated over a shot that hit a lucky net tape and brought the set back on level terms
Even though frustratingly prevented multiple opportunities on his opponent's serve, the champion seized command of a decisive tie-break to push the final set - where he once again performed
The Veteran Extends Remarkable Run
Berrettini had previously extended his team competition singles victory run to 11 matches with an superb display against the Spanish opponent
The former Wimbledon runner-up converted his decisive opportunity for a 5-3 lead before confidently serving out the opener to love
Having taken the majority of points to take the first set, Berrettini appeared ready to tighten his grip on the match upon creating two break points in the opening game of the second
Carreno Busta succeeded to survive each before producing a series of strong serving performances - but the Italian seized his next opportunity and closed to zero to finish his triumph