Italy Wins Historic Third Straight Tennis Trophy Championship
The Italian player secured one of the longest tie-break in team tennis records to beat Belgium's Zizou Bergs during the semi-finals
The young Italian star alongside Matteo Berrettini propelled the Italian squad to team tennis victory as the hosts beat the Spanish team to claim a record-breaking three-peat championship in front of an ecstatic home crowd
48 hours after he narrowly won a marathon lengthy tie-break, the Italian talent once again excelled as he battled back from behind in sets to beat Jaume Munar in a grueling match
The 23-year-old's determined 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 win sealed a 2-0 win for his country in Bologna after Berrettini had won in straight sets against the Spanish player
It is a fourth Davis Cup victory overall for the Italian team, who are the initial country to win three consecutive titles since defending champions no longer received direct entry to the final over five decades back
Local Supporters Inspires Team Italy Victory
Supported passionately by the vast majority of a sell-out 10,000-strong audience, the Italian star conquered a slow start to trigger scenes of celebration among the team athletes, coaches and fans
Cobolli was mobbed by his teammates 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 Absence
Both Italy and Spain reached the final even with missing star athletes, with the absence of top-ranked players preventing fans a seventh meeting of the season between the world's dominant tennis stars
But, with Italian second-ranked Lorenzo Musetti also absent, the Italian duo seized their moments in the spotlight with perfect records from three singles matches apiece this week
Thrilling Recovery Secures Win
The audience chanted Cobolli's name as he kept his calm to close out his recovery victory to zero, having forced the breakthrough in the penultimate game of a tense deciding set
That was no mean feat, given he had stated he had realized a "goal" in guiding Italy to Sunday's showpiece on home soil
In opposition to the scenes of Friday night, when Cobolli removed his shirt in celebration on "among the greatest" moments of his career, the world number 22 faced the price for a slow start as he conceded a dominant opening set
But Cobolli initiated a essential, swift response after falling a break down at the beginning of the second
Cobolli's fortunes seemed to shift after a brief pause in the match when a spectator of the crowd became unwell
When play resumed, and with his opponent facing break point, the player lobbed over a volley that caught a lucky net tape and put the set to deuce
Even though annoyingly denied multiple opportunities on his opponent's serve, the champion wrested command of a decisive tie-break to push the final set - where he yet again delivered
Berrettini Continues Remarkable Winning Streak
The Italian star had earlier extended his Davis Cup individual winning streak to 11 matches with an excellent performance against the Spanish opponent
The former Wimbledon runner-up used his third break point for a advantage before confidently closing the first set to zero
Having taken the majority of points to secure the opening set, the player looked set to strengthen his grip on the contest upon forcing two break points in the initial game of the second
Carreno Busta succeeded to survive both before putting together a series of strong serving performances - but Berrettini took his next opportunity and closed to love to finish his victory