Italy Wins Historic Third Consecutive Tennis Trophy Championship
Flavio Cobolli secured the sixth-longest tie-break in team tennis records to defeat Belgium's Zizou Bergs during the semi-finals
Flavio Cobolli and his compatriot guided Italy to team tennis success as the hosts beat Spain to capture a historic third consecutive championship in front of an ecstatic local supporters
Two days after he narrowly won a marathon 32-point decider, Cobolli once again shone as he fought back from behind in sets to overcome Jaume Munar in three sets
The 23-year-old's tenacious 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 triumph secured a 2-0 triumph for his country in the Italian city after Berrettini had won in straight sets against the Spanish player
It is a fourth Davis Cup victory overall for Italy, who are the first nation to achieve three consecutive titles since title holders stopped receiving direct entry to the championship match over five decades back
Home Crowd Fuels Italian Victory
Supported passionately by the vast majority of a packed capacity crowd, the Italian star overcame a slow start to spark scenes of jubilation among the team athletes, staff and supporters
Cobolli was surrounded by his teammates on the playing surface but took a moment to praise his opponent on his efforts before rejoining the celebrations
Key Players Deliver in Absence
Each Italy and Spain made the championship match even with missing star athletes, with the non-participation of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner denying fans a seventh meeting of the season between the world's dominant tennis stars
But, with national number two another key player also missing, the Italian duo owned their moments in the limelight with three wins from three singles matches each during the tournament
Dramatic Recovery Seals Win
The audience chanted Cobolli's name as he kept his calm to serve out his recovery victory to love, having achieved the decisive break in the penultimate game of a tense final set
That was quite an accomplishment, given he had admitted he had realized a "dream" in delivering his nation to Sunday's final on domestic ground
In contrast to the scenes of Friday night, when the athlete removed his jersey in celebration on "among the greatest" days of his career, the ranked player faced the price for a slow start as he lost a dominant first set
But Cobolli launched a necessary, immediate comeback after going a behind at the beginning of the second
Cobolli's luck appeared to shift after a brief stop in the match when a spectator of the audience became unwell
When play resumed, and with his opponent facing break point, the player floated over a shot that hit a fortunate net cord and brought the set back on level terms
Although frustratingly prevented multiple opportunities on his rival's service game, the champion seized command of a must-win breaker to push the final set - where he yet again delivered
Berrettini Extends Remarkable Run
Berrettini had previously extended his team competition singles victory run to 11 matches with an excellent performance against Carreno Busta
The former Wimbledon runner-up used his third break point for a 5-3 lead before confidently serving out the first set to love
Having taken the majority of points to take the opening set, Berrettini looked set to strengthen his hold on the contest upon creating two break points in the opening game of the following set
Carreno Busta succeeded to survive each before producing a sequence of strong service games - but Berrettini took his following chance and closed to love to finish his victory