The Italian team Wins Historic Three-Peat Davis Cup Championship
The Italian player clinched one of the longest tie-break in team tennis history to overcome his Belgian opponent during the semi-finals
Flavio Cobolli alongside Matteo Berrettini led Italy to Davis Cup victory as the hosts beat Spain to secure a record-breaking three-peat championship in front of an overjoyed home crowd
Two days after he edged an epic 32-point decider, the Italian talent once again starred as he battled back from a set and a break down to defeat his Spanish opponent in three sets
The young player's determined 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 success sealed a straight sets win for his nation in the Italian city after his teammate had triumphed 6-3 6-4 against the Spanish player
It is a fourth overall Davis Cup title overall for Italy, who are the initial country to win three consecutive championships since title holders no longer received automatic qualification to the final over five decades back
Local Supporters Inspires Italian Victory
Supported enthusiastically by the vast majority of a sell-out 10,000-strong audience, Cobolli overcame a poor beginning to trigger scenes of jubilation among the Italian athletes, staff and supporters
Cobolli was mobbed by his team-mates on the playing surface but took a moment to commend his opponent on his efforts before rejoining the celebrations
Star Performers Deliver in Missing Stars
Both the Italian squad and Spain made the final even with being without key players, with the non-participation of top-ranked players preventing fans a seventh meeting of 2025 between the top-ranked tennis stars
But, with Italian number two Lorenzo Musetti also absent, the Italian duo owned their opportunities in the spotlight with three wins from all their matches apiece this week
Dramatic Comeback Secures Win
The audience shouted the player's moniker as he kept his calm to close out his comeback triumph to love, having forced the breakthrough in the 11th game of a nail-biting final set
That was no mean feat, given he had stated he had achieved a "goal" in delivering his nation to Sunday's showpiece on home soil
In contrast to the events of Friday night, when the athlete removed his jersey in jubilation on "among the greatest" moments of his career, the ranked player paid the consequence for a slow start as he lost a dominant opening set
But Cobolli launched a essential, swift response after falling a behind at the beginning of the following set
The Italian's luck seemed to change after a brief pause in play when a member of the crowd became ill
When play resumed, and with his opponent facing break point, the player lobbed over a volley that caught a lucky net cord and put the game back on level terms
Although frustratingly denied multiple opportunities on his rival's serve, Cobolli seized command of a decisive tie-break to push the decider - where he yet again delivered
The Veteran Continues Remarkable Winning Streak
The Italian star had previously extended his team competition individual winning streak to 11 matches with an excellent display against the Spanish opponent
The former Wimbledon runner-up converted his decisive opportunity for a advantage before assuredly closing the first set to love
Having taken the majority of points to secure the opening set, Berrettini looked set to tighten his hold on the contest upon creating opportunities in the opening game of the following set
Carreno Busta managed to survive each before putting together a sequence of strong serving performances - but the Italian seized his following chance and closed to zero to complete his triumph