Italy Clinches Record Three-Peat Tennis Trophy Title
The Italian player won one of the longest deciding set in team tennis records to defeat Belgium's Zizou Bergs during the semi-finals
Flavio Cobolli and his compatriot guided the Italian squad to Davis Cup glory as the hosts overcame the Spanish team to secure a record-breaking third successive championship in front of an overjoyed local supporters
Two days following he narrowly won a marathon lengthy tie-break, Cobolli once again excelled as he fought back from behind in sets to beat Jaume Munar in three sets
The young player's gritty comeback victory triumph secured a 2-0 victory for his nation in Bologna after Berrettini had won 6-3 6-4 against the Spanish player
It is a fourth overall team championship victory overall for the Italian team, who are the initial country to win three straight titles since title holders no longer received direct entry to the final over five decades back
Local Supporters Fuels Italian Triumph
Backed passionately by the vast majority of a packed 10,000-strong audience, Cobolli overcame a slow start to trigger scenes of jubilation among the team athletes, coaches and supporters
Cobolli was surrounded by his team-mates on the playing surface but took a brief time to praise Munar on his efforts before returning to the festivities
Key Players Step Up in Missing Stars
Both Italy and Spain made the championship match even with missing key players, with the absence of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner denying fans a seventh matchup of 2025 between the top-ranked men's players
But, with Italian second-ranked Lorenzo Musetti too missing, Cobolli and Berrettini owned their moments in the spotlight with three wins from three singles matches apiece during the tournament
Dramatic Recovery Secures Victory
The audience shouted Cobolli's name as he kept his calm to close out his comeback triumph to love, having achieved the decisive break in the penultimate game of a tense deciding set
That was no mean feat, given he had stated he had achieved a "goal" in guiding Italy to Sunday's final on domestic ground
In opposition to the events of Friday night, when the athlete removed his shirt in jubilation on "among the greatest" moments of his career, the ranked player paid the consequence for a slow start as he lost a one-sided opening set
But Cobolli initiated a necessary, immediate comeback after falling a break down at the beginning of the second
Cobolli's fortunes seemed to change after a nine-minute stop in play when a member of the audience became unwell
When the match resumed, and with his opponent facing a critical moment, the Italian floated over a volley that hit a lucky net tape and brought the game to deuce
Although frustratingly denied multiple opportunities on his opponent's service game, Cobolli seized control of a decisive tie-break to force the final set - where he once again performed
The Veteran Continues Remarkable Run
The Italian star had earlier extended his team competition singles victory run to 11 matches with an excellent performance against Carreno Busta
The Grand Slam finalist used his third break point for a 5-3 lead before assuredly closing the opener to love
Having taken the majority of points to secure the opening set, the player looked set to strengthen his grip on the match upon creating two break points in the initial game of the following set
His opponent managed to save both before producing a series of solid serving performances - but the Italian seized his next opportunity and closed to love to complete his triumph
