Italy Secures Record Third Straight Tennis Trophy Title
The Italian player won one of the longest tie-break in team tennis history to defeat Belgium's Zizou Bergs during the semi-finals
Flavio Cobolli alongside Matteo Berrettini guided Italy to Davis Cup victory as the home team defeated Spain to claim a historic three-peat championship in front of an ecstatic local supporters
48 hours following he narrowly won an epic lengthy decider, Cobolli returned to starred as he recovered from behind in sets to overcome his Spanish opponent in three sets
The young player's gritty comeback victory win clinched 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 overall Davis Cup title in total for Italy, who are the first nation to achieve three straight titles since defending champions no longer received direct entry to the championship match 53 years ago
Local Supporters Fuels Team Italy Victory
Backed passionately by the vast majority of a sell-out 10,000-strong audience, Cobolli overcame a slow start to trigger scenes of jubilation among the Italian players, coaches and supporters
Cobolli was mobbed by his team-mates on court but paused for a brief time to commend Munar on his performance before returning to the festivities
Key Players Deliver in Missing Stars
Each the Italian squad and the Spanish team reached the championship match despite missing key players, with the non-participation of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner preventing spectators a seventh matchup of the season between the world's dominant tennis stars
But, with national second-ranked Lorenzo Musetti also absent, the Italian duo owned their opportunities in the limelight with perfect records from three singles matches apiece this week
Thrilling Comeback Seals Win
The audience chanted the player's moniker as he maintained his calm to serve out his recovery victory to zero, having forced the breakthrough in the penultimate game of a tense deciding set
That was quite an accomplishment, given he had admitted he had realized a "goal" in guiding Italy to the final on home soil
In contrast to the scenes of Friday night, when Cobolli removed his shirt in jubilation on "one of the best" moments of his life, the ranked player paid the price for a poor beginning as he lost a one-sided opening set
But Cobolli initiated a essential, immediate comeback after falling a behind at the start of the second
Cobolli's fortunes seemed to change after a nine-minute pause in the match when a member of the audience became unwell
When play resumed, and with Munar facing break point, the player floated over a volley that caught a fortunate net tape and brought the set to deuce
Although annoyingly denied four set points on his opponent's serve, Cobolli seized control of a decisive tie-break to push the decider - where he yet again delivered
Berrettini Continues Impressive Run
The Italian star had previously extended his Davis Cup individual winning streak to 11 matches with an superb performance against the Spanish opponent
The former Wimbledon runner-up converted his third break point for a 5-3 lead before assuredly serving out the first set to love
Having taken the majority of points to secure the first set, Berrettini appeared ready to strengthen his hold on the match upon creating two break points in the opening game of the following set
Carreno Busta succeeded to survive each before producing a series of strong serving performances - but Berrettini took his next opportunity and served out to zero to finish his triumph
