Italy Secures Historic Three-Peat Davis Cup Title
The Italian player secured the sixth-longest tie-break in team tennis history to beat his Belgian opponent during the semi-finals
Flavio Cobolli alongside Matteo Berrettini propelled the Italian squad to team tennis success as the home team defeated the Spanish team to capture a record-breaking third consecutive title in front of an ecstatic home crowd
Two days following he narrowly won a marathon 32-point decider, Cobolli once again shone as he recovered from behind in sets to beat Jaume Munar in a grueling match
The 23-year-old's gritty 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 triumph sealed a straight sets victory for his country in the Italian city after his teammate had triumphed 6-3 6-4 against Pablo Carreno Busta
It is a fourth overall Davis Cup title overall for Italy, who are the first nation to win three straight championships since title holders stopped receiving automatic qualification to the final over five decades back
Home Crowd Inspires Italian Victory
Backed passionately by the vast majority of a packed 10,000-strong audience, the Italian star conquered a slow start to trigger scenes of celebration among the Italian players, coaches and fans
Cobolli was surrounded by his teammates on the playing surface but paused for a brief time to commend Munar on his efforts before returning to the festivities
Key Players Step Up in Absence
Each the Italian squad and Spain made the championship match despite missing star athletes, with the absence of top-ranked players denying fans a seventh matchup of the season between the world's dominant tennis stars
But, with national second-ranked another key player also missing, the Italian duo owned their opportunities in the spotlight with three wins from all their matches each this week
Thrilling Recovery Secures Victory
The crowd chanted Cobolli's moniker as he maintained his calm to close out his recovery triumph to love, having forced the decisive break in the 11th game of a nail-biting final set
That was no mean feat, given he had admitted he had achieved a "goal" in guiding his nation to Sunday's final on domestic ground
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 consequence for a slow start as he lost a one-sided opening set
But the determined player launched a essential, immediate comeback after falling a behind at the start of the following set
Cobolli's fortunes seemed to shift after a brief stop in play when a spectator of the crowd became ill
When the match resumed, and with Munar facing a critical moment, the player floated over a shot that caught a lucky net cord and brought the set to deuce
Even though frustratingly prevented multiple opportunities on his opponent's service game, the champion seized command of a decisive breaker to push the final set - where he yet again performed
Berrettini Continues Impressive Winning Streak
The Italian star had previously extended his Davis Cup individual winning streak to 11 matches with an excellent display against the Spanish opponent
The former Wimbledon runner-up used his decisive opportunity for a 5-3 lead before assuredly serving out the first set to zero
Having taken the majority of points to secure the opening set, the player looked set to strengthen his hold on the match upon forcing opportunities in the opening game of the following set
Carreno Busta succeeded to survive each before producing a sequence of strong service games - but the Italian took his next opportunity and served out to zero to finish his victory