The Italian team Wins Historic Third Straight Tennis Trophy Title
The Italian player won one of the longest deciding set in team tennis history to defeat Belgium's Zizou Bergs on Friday
Flavio Cobolli and Matteo Berrettini propelled the Italian squad to Davis Cup success as the home team overcame the Spanish team to claim a record-breaking third successive championship in front of an jubilant local supporters
Two days following he edged a marathon lengthy tie-break, the Italian talent once again excelled as he fought back from a set and a break down to overcome Jaume Munar in a grueling match
The 23-year-old's gritty 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 win clinched a 2-0 win for his country in the Italian city after Berrettini had prevailed 6-3 6-4 against the Spanish player
It is a fourth overall team championship title overall for Italy, who are the initial country to win three straight titles since defending champions no longer received direct entry to the championship match over five decades back
Local Supporters Fuels Team Italy Victory
Backed passionately by the vast majority of a sell-out 10,000-strong crowd, the Italian star conquered a slow start to spark scenes of jubilation among the team players, coaches and supporters
Cobolli was surrounded by his teammates on court but took a brief time to commend Munar on his efforts before returning to the celebrations
Key Players Deliver in Absence
Both the Italian squad and the Spanish team reached the championship match even with missing star athletes, with the absence of top-ranked players denying spectators a seventh matchup of 2025 between the top-ranked men's players
But, with Italian second-ranked another key player too missing, the Italian duo owned their moments in the limelight with perfect records from all their matches apiece during the tournament
Thrilling Recovery Secures Victory
The audience chanted Cobolli's moniker as he kept his calm to serve out his comeback victory to zero, having achieved the decisive break in the penultimate game of a tense final set
That was quite an accomplishment, given he had stated he had realized a "goal" in delivering his nation to the final on home soil
In contrast to the events of the previous match, when Cobolli removed his shirt in celebration on "one of the best" moments of his career, the world number 22 paid the price for a poor beginning as he lost a one-sided first set
But the determined player launched a necessary, swift response after going a behind at the start of the following set
Cobolli's luck seemed to change after a nine-minute stop in the match when a spectator of the audience became unwell
When the match continued, and with Munar down a critical moment, the Italian lobbed over a shot that caught a lucky net tape and brought the set back on level terms
Although frustratingly denied multiple opportunities on his opponent's serve, Cobolli seized command of a decisive breaker to force the decider - where he once again delivered
The Veteran Extends Remarkable Run
Berrettini had previously extended his team competition individual winning streak to 11 matches with an superb performance against Carreno Busta
The Grand Slam finalist converted his third break point for a 5-3 lead before confidently closing the first set to love
Having won the majority of points to take the first set, Berrettini looked set to tighten his hold on the match upon creating two break points in the opening game of the second
His opponent succeeded to save each before producing a sequence of solid service games - but Berrettini seized his next opportunity and served out to zero to finish his victory