Italy Clinches Record Third Straight Tennis Trophy Title
The Italian player won one of the longest deciding set in team tennis history to defeat his Belgian opponent during the semi-finals
The young Italian star and his compatriot propelled Italy to Davis Cup glory as the hosts defeated the Spanish team to claim a historic third consecutive championship in front of an ecstatic local supporters
48 hours following he edged an epic 32-point decider, the Italian talent returned to shone as he recovered from a set and a break down to defeat Jaume Munar in three sets
The young player's tenacious comeback victory triumph clinched a straight sets triumph for his nation in Bologna after Berrettini had prevailed in straight sets against the Spanish player
It is a fourth team championship victory in total for Italy, who are the first nation to achieve three consecutive titles since defending champions no longer received direct entry to the final 53 years ago
Home Crowd Fuels Team Italy Victory
Backed passionately by the vast majority of a sell-out 10,000-strong audience, Cobolli conquered a slow start to trigger moments of jubilation among the team players, coaches and fans
Cobolli was mobbed by his team-mates on the playing surface but paused for a brief time to commend Munar on his efforts before rejoining the festivities
Key Players Deliver in Absence
Both the Italian squad and Spain reached the championship match despite missing key players, with the non-participation of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner denying fans a seventh matchup of 2025 between the world's dominant tennis stars
But, with Italian second-ranked another key player also missing, the Italian duo seized their moments in the limelight with three wins from all their matches apiece this week
Thrilling Recovery Secures Win
The audience chanted Cobolli's name as he maintained his composure to serve out his recovery victory to zero, having achieved the breakthrough in the 11th game of a nail-biting final set
That was no mean feat, given he had admitted he had realized a "goal" in delivering Italy to Sunday's final on home soil
In contrast to the scenes of Friday night, when Cobolli removed his jersey in jubilation on "one of the best" days of his career, the ranked player faced the consequence for a slow start as he lost a dominant opening set
But the determined player launched a necessary, swift response after going a behind at the beginning of the second
The Italian's luck appeared to shift after a brief pause in play when a member of the crowd became ill
When the match resumed, and with his opponent down break point, the Italian floated over a volley that hit a fortunate net cord and put the game to deuce
Although annoyingly prevented four set points on his opponent's serve, Cobolli seized command of a must-win tie-break to force the final set - where he yet again performed
The Veteran Extends Impressive Winning Streak
The Italian star had previously taken his Davis Cup singles winning streak to eleven consecutive wins with an excellent performance against Carreno Busta
The Grand Slam finalist converted his decisive opportunity for a advantage before confidently closing the opener to love
Having won 11 of the last 13 points to secure the first set, Berrettini appeared ready to strengthen his hold on the match upon forcing opportunities in the initial game of the following set
Carreno Busta managed to save each before producing a series of strong service games - but the Italian took his next opportunity and served out to love to finish his victory
