Italy Clinches Record Three-Peat Tennis Trophy Title
The Italian player secured the sixth-longest deciding set in team tennis records to beat his Belgian opponent during the semi-finals
Flavio Cobolli and his compatriot guided Italy to Davis Cup glory as the home team beat the Spanish team to claim a record-breaking third successive championship in front of an ecstatic local supporters
48 hours after he edged an epic 32-point decider, the Italian talent returned to shone as he battled back from a set and a break down to defeat Jaume Munar in a grueling match
The young player's determined 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 win secured a 2-0 win for his country in the Italian city after his teammate had triumphed 6-3 6-4 against Pablo Carreno Busta
It is a fourth team championship title in total for the Italian team, who are the first nation to win three consecutive titles since title holders no longer received automatic qualification to the final over five decades back
Local Supporters Fuels Italian Triumph
Backed enthusiastically by the vast majority of a sell-out capacity crowd, Cobolli conquered a poor beginning to spark moments of celebration among the Italian athletes, staff and supporters
Cobolli was mobbed by his team-mates on the playing surface but took a moment to praise Munar on his efforts before rejoining the celebrations
Star Performers Deliver in Missing Stars
Each the Italian squad and Spain reached the final despite being without key players, with the absence of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner denying spectators a seventh matchup of the season between the world's dominant men's players
But, with Italian number two another key player also absent, Cobolli and Berrettini seized their opportunities in the spotlight with perfect records from all their matches each during the tournament
Dramatic Recovery Secures Victory
The audience shouted the player's moniker as he maintained his calm to close out his comeback victory to love, having achieved the breakthrough in the penultimate game of a nail-biting final set
That was no mean feat, given he had stated he had realized a "dream" in delivering Italy to Sunday's final on home soil
In contrast to the events of Friday night, when Cobolli removed his shirt in jubilation on "one of the best" moments of his career, the ranked player faced the price for a poor beginning as he conceded a dominant first set
But Cobolli initiated a essential, swift comeback after falling a break down at the beginning 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 play continued, and with Munar facing break point, the player floated over a shot that hit a lucky net cord and put the set to deuce
Even though frustratingly denied four set points on his opponent's serve, Cobolli wrested control of a decisive breaker to push the decider - where he yet again delivered
Berrettini Continues Impressive Run
The Italian star had earlier taken his team competition singles victory run to 11 matches with an excellent display against the Spanish opponent
The former Wimbledon runner-up converted his third break point for a advantage before confidently closing the opener to zero
Having won the majority of points to take the opening set, the player appeared ready to strengthen his hold on the contest upon creating two break points in the opening game of the following set
Carreno Busta succeeded to save both before producing a sequence of solid serving performances - but the Italian seized his next opportunity and closed to love to finish his triumph