Italy Clinches Record Three-Peat Tennis Trophy Title
Flavio Cobolli clinched the sixth-longest deciding set in team tennis history to beat Belgium's Zizou Bergs during the semi-finals
The young Italian star and his compatriot led Italy to Davis Cup victory as the home team overcame the Spanish team to claim a record-breaking third successive title in front of an jubilant home crowd
Two days after he narrowly won a marathon 32-point tie-break, Cobolli once again shone as he recovered from behind in sets to beat Jaume Munar in a grueling match
The young player's determined 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 success clinched a 2-0 triumph for his nation in Bologna after Berrettini had triumphed 6-3 6-4 against the Spanish player
It is a fourth Davis Cup title overall for the Italian team, who are the first nation to win three consecutive championships since title holders stopped receiving direct entry to the championship match 53 years ago
Local Supporters Fuels Team Italy Triumph
Backed enthusiastically by the vast majority of a sell-out 10,000-strong audience, Cobolli conquered a poor beginning to spark moments of jubilation among the Italian athletes, coaches and fans
The champion was surrounded by his teammates on the playing surface but took a brief time to praise his opponent on his performance before rejoining the festivities
Key Players Deliver in Missing Stars
Both the Italian squad and the Spanish team made the championship match even with missing star athletes, with the absence of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner preventing spectators a seventh matchup of the season between the world's dominant men's players
But, with Italian number two Lorenzo Musetti too missing, Cobolli and Berrettini seized their opportunities in the limelight with perfect records from three singles matches apiece during the tournament
Thrilling Recovery Secures Victory
The audience chanted the player's moniker as he kept his composure to close out his recovery triumph to love, having forced the decisive break in the penultimate game of a nail-biting deciding set
That was no mean feat, given he had stated he had realized a "dream" in delivering Italy to the showpiece on home soil
In opposition to the scenes of the previous match, when the athlete tore off his jersey in celebration on "among the greatest" moments of his life, the ranked player faced the consequence for a slow start as he lost a dominant opening set
But the determined player launched a essential, immediate response after going a behind at the beginning of the second
The Italian's luck appeared to change after a brief pause in play when a spectator of the crowd became ill
When the match resumed, and with his opponent down a critical moment, the Italian floated over a volley that caught a fortunate net cord and put the game to deuce
Although annoyingly denied four set points on his rival's service game, Cobolli seized command of a decisive breaker to push the decider - where he once again performed
The Veteran Extends Impressive Run
The Italian star had earlier extended his Davis Cup singles winning streak to 11 matches with an excellent performance against the Spanish opponent
The former Wimbledon runner-up used his decisive opportunity for a advantage before assuredly closing the first set to zero
Having taken 11 of the last 13 points to secure the first set, Berrettini looked set to strengthen his hold on the contest upon creating two break points in the opening game of the second
Carreno Busta managed to survive each before putting together a sequence of solid serving performances - but the Italian took his next opportunity and served out to love to complete his triumph