Italy Wins Historic Three-Peat Davis Cup Title
The Italian player clinched the sixth-longest deciding set in Davis Cup records to beat Belgium's Zizou Bergs on Friday
Flavio Cobolli and Matteo Berrettini propelled Italy to team tennis glory as the home team defeated the Spanish team to claim a record-breaking three-peat championship in front of an overjoyed home crowd
Two days after he narrowly won a marathon 32-point decider, Cobolli returned to excelled as he battled back from behind in sets to defeat his Spanish opponent in three sets
The 23-year-old's determined 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 triumph secured a 2-0 win for his nation in Bologna after Berrettini had prevailed 6-3 6-4 against Pablo Carreno Busta
It is a fourth team championship victory overall for Italy, who are the first nation to achieve three straight titles since defending champions no longer received automatic qualification to the final 53 years ago
Local Supporters Inspires Team Italy Triumph
Backed enthusiastically by the vast majority of a packed capacity audience, Cobolli conquered a poor beginning to spark moments of jubilation among the Italian athletes, coaches and supporters
The champion was mobbed by his teammates on court but paused for a brief time to praise Munar on his efforts before returning to the festivities
Star Performers Step Up in Missing Stars
Both Italy and the Spanish team made the final even with missing key players, with the non-participation of top-ranked players preventing fans a seventh meeting of the season between the world's dominant tennis stars
But, with national second-ranked Lorenzo Musetti also absent, Cobolli and Berrettini owned their opportunities in the spotlight with perfect records from three singles matches apiece this week
Dramatic Comeback Seals Win
The audience shouted Cobolli's moniker as he maintained his calm to close out his comeback triumph to love, having achieved the decisive break in the 11th game of a nail-biting deciding set
That was quite an accomplishment, given he had stated he had realized a "dream" in delivering Italy to the final on home soil
In contrast to the scenes of the previous match, when Cobolli tore off his jersey in celebration on "among the greatest" days of his life, the ranked player paid the consequence for a slow start as he lost a one-sided opening set
But the determined player launched a necessary, immediate comeback after falling a behind at the start of the second
The Italian's fortunes seemed to change after a brief stop in play when a spectator of the audience became unwell
When the match resumed, and with his opponent facing break point, the Italian lobbed over a shot that caught a fortunate net cord and brought the game back on level terms
Although frustratingly prevented four set points on his opponent's service game, the champion seized control of a must-win breaker to force the final set - where he yet again performed
The Veteran Continues Impressive Run
The Italian star had earlier taken his team competition singles winning streak to eleven consecutive wins with an superb display against Carreno Busta
The former Wimbledon runner-up used his decisive opportunity for a 5-3 lead before confidently serving out the opener to zero
Having taken the majority of points to secure the opening set, Berrettini looked set to strengthen his hold on the contest upon creating opportunities in the initial game of the second
Carreno Busta succeeded to survive each before putting together a series of strong serving performances - but Berrettini seized his next opportunity and served out to love to finish his triumph