Italy Secures Record Three-Peat Davis Cup Title
Flavio Cobolli clinched the sixth-longest deciding set in Davis Cup records to defeat his Belgian opponent during the semi-finals
Flavio Cobolli and Matteo Berrettini propelled the Italian squad to team tennis success as the hosts beat the Spanish team to claim a historic third successive title in front of an overjoyed home crowd
Two days after he narrowly won an epic 32-point decider, the Italian talent once again excelled as he fought back from a set and a break down to beat his Spanish opponent in three sets
The young player's determined comeback victory success sealed a straight sets triumph for his country in Bologna after his teammate had prevailed 6-3 6-4 against the Spanish player
It is a fourth team championship title in total for the Italian team, who are the initial country to win three straight titles since defending champions stopped receiving automatic qualification to the final 53 years ago
Home Crowd Inspires Italian Victory
Backed passionately by the overwhelming number of a packed 10,000-strong audience, Cobolli overcame a poor beginning to spark scenes of jubilation among the team athletes, coaches and supporters
The champion was mobbed by his team-mates on court but paused for a moment to commend his opponent on his performance before returning to the celebrations
Star Performers Deliver in Missing Stars
Both Italy and Spain reached the final even with missing key players, with the non-participation of top-ranked players denying fans a seventh matchup of the season between the top-ranked tennis stars
But, with Italian second-ranked Lorenzo Musetti too absent, Cobolli and Berrettini seized their moments in the spotlight with three wins from all their matches apiece during the tournament
Thrilling Comeback Seals Victory
The audience chanted Cobolli's name as he maintained his composure to serve out his comeback triumph to zero, having forced the decisive break in the 11th game of a nail-biting deciding set
That was quite an accomplishment, given he had stated he had achieved a "dream" in guiding Italy to Sunday's final on domestic ground
In contrast to the events of the previous match, when the athlete tore off his shirt in celebration on "among the greatest" days of his life, the world number 22 paid the consequence for a poor beginning as he conceded a one-sided opening set
But Cobolli initiated a essential, immediate response after falling a break down at the beginning of the following set
The Italian's luck appeared to change after a nine-minute pause in the match when a member of the crowd became unwell
When play resumed, and with Munar facing a critical moment, the Italian floated over a shot that hit a lucky net tape and put the game to deuce
Although annoyingly prevented four set points on his rival's serve, the champion wrested control of a decisive tie-break to push the decider - where he yet again delivered
The Veteran Extends Impressive Winning Streak
Berrettini had previously taken his Davis Cup singles winning streak to 11 matches with an excellent performance against Carreno Busta
The former Wimbledon runner-up used his decisive opportunity for a advantage before confidently closing the opener to zero
Having taken 11 of the last 13 points to take the first set, the player appeared ready to strengthen his hold on the contest upon forcing opportunities in the opening game of the second
Carreno Busta managed to survive each before putting together a series of solid serving performances - but the Italian seized his following chance and closed to zero to complete his triumph