Italy Secures Record Third Straight Tennis Trophy Championship
The Italian player secured one of the longest deciding set in team tennis history to defeat Belgium's Zizou Bergs on Friday
Flavio Cobolli alongside Matteo Berrettini propelled the Italian squad to team tennis success as the home team defeated the Spanish team to capture a historic third consecutive championship in front of an overjoyed home crowd
48 hours after he edged an epic 32-point decider, the Italian talent returned to starred as he fought back from behind in sets to overcome Jaume Munar in three sets
The young player's tenacious 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 triumph clinched a straight sets win for his country in the Italian city after his teammate had triumphed 6-3 6-4 against Pablo Carreno Busta
It is a fourth team championship title overall for the Italian team, who are the first nation to win three consecutive championships since title holders no longer received automatic qualification to the final over five decades back
Local Supporters Fuels Italian Triumph
Backed enthusiastically by the vast majority of a sell-out capacity crowd, the Italian star conquered a slow start to trigger moments of jubilation among the team athletes, staff and supporters
The champion was surrounded by his team-mates on the playing surface but paused for a brief time to praise Munar on his efforts before returning to the festivities
Star Performers Step Up in Missing Stars
Each the Italian squad and Spain reached the final despite missing star athletes, with the non-participation of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner denying fans a seventh meeting of the season between the world's dominant tennis stars
But, with national number two another key player too missing, Cobolli and Berrettini seized their moments in the limelight with perfect records from all their matches each during the tournament
Thrilling Recovery Seals Victory
The crowd chanted the player's moniker as he maintained his calm to serve out his comeback victory to love, having achieved the decisive break in the 11th game of a nail-biting deciding set
That was quite an accomplishment, given he had admitted he had achieved a "dream" in delivering his nation to the final on domestic ground
In opposition to the scenes of the previous match, when Cobolli tore off his shirt in celebration on "one of the best" moments of his life, the ranked player faced the price for a slow start as he conceded a one-sided opening set
But the determined player initiated a necessary, immediate comeback after falling a break down at the beginning of the following set
Cobolli's luck seemed to change after a brief stop in play when a spectator of the crowd became unwell
When play continued, and with Munar facing break point, the Italian lobbed over a shot that hit a lucky net tape and brought the set to deuce
Although annoyingly denied multiple opportunities on his opponent's service game, the champion seized control of a must-win tie-break to push the final set - where he once again performed
The Veteran Extends Impressive Run
The Italian star had earlier taken his Davis Cup individual victory run to eleven consecutive wins with an excellent performance 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 take the opening set, the player appeared ready to tighten his hold on the match upon creating opportunities in the opening game of the second
Carreno Busta succeeded to save each before putting together a sequence of strong serving performances - but the Italian seized his following chance and closed to love to finish his triumph