Italy Wins Historic Third Consecutive Tennis Trophy Championship
Flavio Cobolli won the sixth-longest tie-break in team tennis records to overcome his Belgian opponent during the semi-finals
The young Italian star and Matteo Berrettini led Italy to Davis Cup victory as the home team beat Spain to secure a record-breaking three-peat championship in front of an jubilant home crowd
48 hours after he edged an epic 32-point decider, the Italian talent returned to excelled as he fought back from a set and a break down to overcome Jaume Munar in three sets
The 23-year-old's determined 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 success clinched a straight sets triumph for his nation in the Italian city after Berrettini had prevailed in straight sets against Pablo Carreno Busta
It is a fourth overall Davis Cup victory overall for the Italian team, who are the initial country to achieve three straight championships since defending champions no longer received automatic qualification to the championship match over five decades back
Local Supporters Fuels Team Italy Triumph
Backed enthusiastically by the vast majority of a sell-out capacity crowd, the Italian star overcame a poor beginning to trigger scenes of jubilation among the Italian players, coaches and supporters
The champion was surrounded by his team-mates on the playing surface but paused for a moment to praise his opponent on his efforts before returning to the celebrations
Key Players Step Up in Missing Stars
Both the Italian squad and the Spanish team made the final even with missing star athletes, with the absence of top-ranked players preventing fans a seventh matchup of 2025 between the world's dominant men's players
But, with national second-ranked another key player too absent, the Italian duo owned their opportunities in the spotlight with three wins from three singles matches each this week
Dramatic Recovery Secures Victory
The crowd shouted the player's name as he maintained his composure to serve out his recovery victory to zero, having forced the decisive break in the 11th game of a tense deciding set
That was quite an accomplishment, given he had admitted he had achieved a "dream" in guiding Italy to Sunday's showpiece on domestic ground
In opposition to the events of Friday night, when the athlete tore off his jersey in celebration on "one of the best" moments of his career, the ranked player paid the price for a poor beginning as he lost a one-sided opening set
But Cobolli launched a essential, immediate comeback after falling a behind at the beginning of the second
The Italian's luck appeared to shift after a nine-minute pause in the match when a spectator of the audience became unwell
When play continued, and with his opponent down a critical moment, the player lobbed over a shot that caught a fortunate net tape and brought the set back on level terms
Even though annoyingly prevented multiple opportunities on his rival's serve, Cobolli wrested control of a must-win tie-break to force the decider - where he yet again delivered
Berrettini Extends Impressive Winning Streak
Berrettini had previously taken his Davis Cup individual victory run to 11 matches with an excellent performance against the Spanish opponent
The Grand Slam finalist converted his third break point for a advantage before assuredly serving out the first set to zero
Having won the majority of points to secure the opening set, Berrettini looked set to strengthen his grip on the contest upon forcing two break points in the initial game of the second
His opponent managed to save both before putting together a sequence of strong service games - but Berrettini seized his following chance and closed to love to finish his triumph
