The Italian team Clinches Historic Third Straight Davis Cup Championship
The Italian player secured one of the longest tie-break in team tennis records to overcome his Belgian opponent during the semi-finals
The young Italian star and his compatriot guided Italy to Davis Cup success as the hosts beat the Spanish team to capture a record-breaking third successive championship in front of an ecstatic local supporters
48 hours after he narrowly won a marathon lengthy decider, Cobolli once again excelled as he fought back from behind in sets to beat his Spanish opponent in a grueling match
The young player's tenacious 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 win secured a straight sets triumph for his nation in the Italian city after Berrettini had triumphed 6-3 6-4 against the Spanish player
It is a fourth Davis Cup victory in total for Italy, who are the initial country to win three straight titles since title holders stopped receiving automatic qualification to the championship match over five decades back
Home Crowd Fuels Italian Victory
Supported passionately by the overwhelming number of a packed capacity audience, the Italian star conquered a slow start to spark scenes of jubilation among the team players, coaches and fans
The champion was mobbed by his team-mates on court but paused for a moment to commend Munar on his performance before rejoining the celebrations
Key Players Deliver in Absence
Each Italy and the Spanish team made the championship match even with being without key players, with the non-participation of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner preventing spectators a seventh meeting of the season between the top-ranked men's players
But, with Italian second-ranked Lorenzo Musetti too absent, the Italian duo owned their opportunities in the spotlight with perfect records from all their matches apiece this week
Thrilling Recovery Seals Win
The audience shouted the player's moniker as he maintained his calm to close out his comeback triumph to zero, having forced the breakthrough in the 11th game of a nail-biting deciding set
That was quite an accomplishment, given he had admitted he had realized a "dream" in delivering Italy to the showpiece on domestic ground
In opposition to the scenes of Friday night, when the athlete removed his jersey in jubilation on "one of the best" days of his career, the world number 22 faced the price for a poor beginning as he conceded a dominant opening set
But the determined player launched a necessary, immediate response after going a behind at the start of the second
The Italian's fortunes seemed to shift after a brief pause in play when a member of the crowd became ill
When play continued, and with his opponent down a critical moment, the player floated over a shot that caught a fortunate net tape and brought the set back on level terms
Although annoyingly prevented four set points on his rival's service game, Cobolli seized command of a decisive breaker to push the final set - where he yet again performed
The Veteran Extends Remarkable Run
The Italian star had previously taken his team competition singles winning streak to 11 matches with an excellent display against Carreno Busta
The Grand Slam finalist used his third break point for a 5-3 lead before confidently closing the opener to zero
Having won the majority of points to secure the opening set, the player appeared ready to strengthen his grip on the match upon creating opportunities in the opening game of the following set
His opponent managed to survive each before putting together a series of strong service games - but Berrettini seized his next opportunity and served out to love to complete his victory