Italy Wins Historic Third Straight Tennis Trophy Title
The Italian player clinched one of the longest tie-break in team tennis history to beat his Belgian opponent during the semi-finals
Flavio Cobolli and Matteo Berrettini guided Italy to Davis Cup glory as the hosts overcame Spain to secure a record-breaking third successive title in front of an ecstatic home crowd
48 hours after he edged an epic 32-point decider, the Italian talent once again excelled as he recovered from behind in sets to beat his Spanish opponent in three sets
The 23-year-old's tenacious 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 success secured a 2-0 triumph for his country in the Italian city after Berrettini had prevailed in straight sets against the Spanish player
It is a fourth overall team championship title overall for the Italian team, who are the initial country to achieve three consecutive championships since title holders stopped receiving automatic qualification to the final 53 years ago
Home Crowd Fuels Team Italy Victory
Backed passionately by the vast majority of a packed 10,000-strong crowd, Cobolli overcame a slow start to trigger moments of jubilation among the Italian athletes, coaches and fans
Cobolli was mobbed by his team-mates on court but took a brief time to commend his opponent on his performance before returning to the festivities
Key Players Step Up in Missing Stars
Both the Italian squad and the Spanish team made the championship match despite missing key players, with the non-participation of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner denying fans a seventh matchup of the season between the top-ranked men's players
But, with Italian number two another key player also absent, Cobolli and Berrettini seized their moments in the limelight with three wins from all their matches each this week
Thrilling Recovery Seals Victory
The audience chanted the player's name as he maintained his composure to close out his recovery triumph to love, having forced the decisive break in the 11th game of a tense final set
That was no mean feat, given he had stated he had realized a "dream" in delivering his nation to the showpiece on home soil
In opposition to the scenes of Friday night, when Cobolli removed his jersey in jubilation on "one of the best" moments of his career, the world number 22 paid the consequence for a slow start as he lost a dominant opening set
But the determined player initiated a necessary, immediate response after going a behind at the start of the second
The Italian's luck seemed to shift after a nine-minute stop in the match when a spectator of the audience became unwell
When the match continued, and with Munar down break point, the Italian lobbed over a volley that caught a fortunate net tape and brought the set to deuce
Although frustratingly denied four set points on his opponent's serve, the champion wrested command of a decisive breaker to push the final set - where he once again delivered
The Veteran Continues Remarkable Winning Streak
The Italian star had earlier extended his Davis Cup individual winning streak to 11 matches with an excellent performance against the Spanish opponent
The Grand Slam finalist used his third break point for a advantage before confidently closing the first set to love
Having won the majority of points to secure the opening set, the player looked set to tighten his grip on the contest upon forcing opportunities in the opening game of the second
Carreno Busta managed to save both before putting together a series of strong service games - but Berrettini seized his next opportunity and served out to zero to finish his victory
