The Italian team Clinches Historic Three-Peat Davis Cup Title
Flavio Cobolli won the sixth-longest tie-break in team tennis records to overcome his Belgian opponent on Friday
Flavio Cobolli and his compatriot propelled Italy to Davis Cup glory as the hosts overcame the Spanish team to secure a historic three-peat title in front of an jubilant home crowd
Two days after he edged a marathon lengthy tie-break, Cobolli returned to shone as he battled back from behind in sets to beat his Spanish opponent in three sets
The 23-year-old's determined 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 success clinched a straight sets triumph for his nation in Bologna after his teammate had triumphed 6-3 6-4 against Pablo Carreno Busta
It is a fourth Davis Cup title overall for the Italian team, who are the first nation to achieve three consecutive championships since defending champions stopped receiving automatic qualification to the championship match over five decades back
Local Supporters Inspires Team Italy Victory
Supported passionately by the overwhelming number of a packed capacity crowd, Cobolli overcame a slow start to trigger scenes of celebration among the team athletes, coaches and fans
The champion was surrounded by his team-mates on court but took a moment to commend his opponent on his efforts before rejoining the festivities
Key Players Step Up in Missing Stars
Each Italy and Spain made the final despite being without key players, with the absence of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner preventing spectators a seventh matchup of 2025 between the top-ranked men's players
But, with Italian number two Lorenzo Musetti also absent, the Italian duo owned their moments in the limelight with three wins from all their matches apiece this week
Thrilling Recovery Secures Win
The audience shouted Cobolli's moniker as he kept his composure to close out his comeback victory to zero, having forced the decisive break in the penultimate game of a tense deciding set
That was no mean feat, given he had stated he had realized a "dream" in guiding Italy to the showpiece on home soil
In opposition to the events of the previous match, when Cobolli tore off his jersey in jubilation on "among the greatest" days of his life, the world number 22 paid the consequence for a slow start as he lost a dominant first set
But Cobolli launched a essential, swift response after going a behind at the beginning of the following set
Cobolli's luck seemed to change after a brief pause in the match when a member of the audience became ill
When the match continued, and with his opponent facing a critical moment, the Italian floated over a shot that caught a fortunate net tape and put the game back on level terms
Although annoyingly denied multiple opportunities on his rival's service game, the champion wrested control of a decisive tie-break to push the decider - where he yet again performed
The Veteran Extends Impressive Winning Streak
Berrettini had previously extended his Davis Cup individual victory run to eleven consecutive wins with an superb performance against Carreno Busta
The former Wimbledon runner-up converted his third break point for a 5-3 lead before assuredly closing the first set to zero
Having taken 11 of the last 13 points to secure the opening set, Berrettini appeared ready to strengthen his grip on the contest upon forcing opportunities in the initial game of the following set
Carreno Busta managed to survive both before putting together a sequence of strong service games - but Berrettini took his next opportunity and served out to love to finish his triumph