The Italian team Wins Historic Third Straight Tennis Trophy Title
Flavio Cobolli won one of the longest deciding set in Davis Cup records to overcome Belgium's Zizou Bergs during the semi-finals
Flavio Cobolli alongside his compatriot guided the Italian squad to Davis Cup success as the home team overcame Spain to capture a historic third successive championship in front of an overjoyed local supporters
Two days following he edged a marathon 32-point decider, Cobolli returned to shone as he fought back from behind in sets to beat Jaume Munar in three sets
The 23-year-old's determined 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 triumph sealed a 2-0 win for his country in the Italian city after his teammate had prevailed in straight sets against the Spanish player
It is a fourth overall team championship victory in total for the Italian team, who are the first nation to achieve three consecutive titles since defending champions no longer received automatic qualification to the final 53 years ago
Local Supporters Inspires Team Italy Victory
Backed enthusiastically by the overwhelming number of a sell-out 10,000-strong audience, Cobolli conquered a poor beginning to spark moments of celebration among the team athletes, coaches and supporters
The champion was surrounded by his team-mates on the playing surface but paused for a moment to praise Munar on his performance before returning to the celebrations
Key Players Step Up in Absence
Both Italy and Spain reached the final despite missing key players, with the non-participation of top-ranked players preventing fans a seventh meeting of the season between the top-ranked tennis stars
But, with Italian number two Lorenzo Musetti also missing, the Italian duo seized their opportunities in the spotlight with perfect records from three singles matches apiece during the tournament
Thrilling Comeback Secures Victory
The audience shouted the player's name as he kept his calm to serve out his comeback triumph to zero, 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 realized a "dream" in guiding his nation to Sunday's final on home soil
In opposition to the scenes of the previous match, when the athlete tore off his jersey in jubilation on "among the greatest" days of his life, the world number 22 paid the consequence for a slow start as he conceded a dominant opening set
But Cobolli launched a essential, immediate comeback after falling a behind at the beginning of the following set
The Italian's luck seemed to shift after a nine-minute stop in the match when a member of the audience became ill
When the match continued, and with his opponent facing a critical moment, the Italian floated over a shot that caught a lucky net tape and put the set to deuce
Even though annoyingly prevented multiple opportunities on his opponent's service game, the champion seized control of a must-win breaker to force the decider - where he once again delivered
Berrettini Extends Remarkable Run
The Italian star had previously taken his Davis Cup individual winning streak to eleven consecutive wins with an excellent performance against the Spanish opponent
The former Wimbledon runner-up converted his decisive opportunity for a 5-3 lead before assuredly serving out the opener to love
Having won the majority of points to secure the opening set, the player appeared ready to tighten his hold on the contest upon creating two break points in the initial game of the second
His opponent managed to save each before producing a series of strong service games - but Berrettini took his following chance and served out to zero to complete his triumph