Italy Wins Historic Third Straight Tennis Trophy Title
The Italian player secured one of the longest deciding set in team tennis records to defeat Belgium's Zizou Bergs on Friday
Flavio Cobolli and Matteo Berrettini guided Italy to team tennis success as the hosts overcame Spain to capture a historic three-peat title in front of an ecstatic home crowd
Two days following he edged an epic 32-point decider, Cobolli once again shone as he fought back from a set and a break down to overcome Jaume Munar in three sets
The young player's determined 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 triumph secured a 2-0 victory for his nation in the Italian city after Berrettini had prevailed in straight sets against the Spanish player
It is a fourth Davis Cup title in total for the Italian team, who are the initial country to achieve three consecutive titles since defending champions stopped receiving direct entry to the final 53 years ago
Home Crowd Inspires Team Italy Triumph
Backed enthusiastically by the overwhelming number of a sell-out 10,000-strong audience, Cobolli overcame a slow start to trigger moments of jubilation among the team athletes, staff and fans
Cobolli was mobbed by his teammates on court but paused for a brief time to commend Munar on his efforts before returning to the celebrations
Star Performers Step Up in Absence
Each Italy and Spain reached the final despite being without star athletes, with the absence of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner denying spectators a seventh meeting of the season between the world's dominant men's players
But, with national second-ranked Lorenzo Musetti also missing, Cobolli and Berrettini seized their opportunities in the spotlight with perfect records from all their matches apiece during the tournament
Thrilling Comeback Secures Win
The crowd chanted Cobolli's name as he maintained his calm to serve out his recovery victory to zero, having achieved the decisive break in the 11th game of a tense deciding set
That was no mean feat, given he had admitted he had realized a "dream" in guiding Italy to the final on domestic ground
In opposition to the events of Friday night, when Cobolli tore off his jersey in celebration on "one of the best" moments of his life, the world number 22 faced the price for a poor beginning as he lost a one-sided first set
But Cobolli launched a necessary, swift response after falling a break down at the beginning of the second
The Italian's luck appeared to shift after a nine-minute stop in the match when a member of the audience became unwell
When the match continued, and with Munar facing a critical moment, the Italian lobbed over a volley that hit a fortunate net cord and put the game back on level terms
Although annoyingly denied four set points on his rival's service game, Cobolli wrested control of a must-win breaker to push the decider - where he yet again delivered
Berrettini Extends Impressive Winning Streak
The Italian star had previously extended his team competition singles victory run to 11 matches with an excellent performance against the Spanish opponent
The Grand Slam finalist converted his decisive opportunity for a advantage before confidently closing the first set to love
Having won the majority of points to secure the opening set, Berrettini appeared ready to strengthen his hold on the match upon creating opportunities in the opening game of the following set
His opponent managed to save each before producing a sequence of strong serving performances - but the Italian seized his next opportunity and closed to zero to complete his victory