The Italian team Secures Historic Third Consecutive Davis Cup Title
Flavio Cobolli won one of the longest tie-break in Davis Cup records to defeat his Belgian opponent on Friday
Flavio Cobolli and his compatriot guided Italy to Davis Cup victory as the home team defeated the Spanish team to capture a record-breaking third successive title in front of an overjoyed home crowd
48 hours after he narrowly won an epic 32-point decider, Cobolli returned to excelled as he recovered from behind in sets to beat his Spanish opponent in three sets
The 23-year-old's determined 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 triumph secured a 2-0 victory for his country in the Italian city after his teammate had triumphed 6-3 6-4 against Pablo Carreno Busta
It is a fourth overall team championship victory overall for Italy, who are the first nation to win three consecutive championships since title holders stopped receiving direct entry to the final 53 years ago
Home Crowd Fuels Team Italy Victory
Supported passionately by the overwhelming number of a packed capacity crowd, Cobolli overcame a slow start to spark moments of celebration among the team players, coaches and fans
The champion was surrounded by his team-mates on court but paused for a moment to praise Munar on his efforts before rejoining the festivities
Key Players Step Up in Absence
Each Italy and Spain made the final despite being without key players, with the absence of top-ranked players denying fans a seventh meeting of the season between the world's dominant tennis stars
But, with Italian second-ranked Lorenzo Musetti too absent, the Italian duo owned their moments in the limelight with three wins from all their matches apiece during the tournament
Thrilling Comeback Secures Victory
The crowd shouted Cobolli's name as he maintained his calm to close out his recovery victory to zero, having achieved the breakthrough in the penultimate game of a tense final set
That was quite an accomplishment, given he had stated he had realized a "dream" in guiding his nation to the final on home soil
In contrast to the events of Friday night, when Cobolli tore off his jersey in celebration on "one of the best" days of his career, the world number 22 faced the price for a poor beginning as he conceded a one-sided first set
But Cobolli initiated a essential, swift response after falling a behind at the beginning of the following set
The Italian's luck appeared to change after a brief stop in the match when a member of the audience became ill
When the match resumed, and with his opponent facing a critical moment, the player lobbed over a volley that caught a lucky net tape and put the game to deuce
Even though annoyingly prevented multiple opportunities on his rival's serve, the champion wrested command of a must-win tie-break to force the final set - where he once again delivered
Berrettini Continues Impressive Run
Berrettini had previously extended his team competition singles winning streak to 11 matches with an excellent display against the Spanish opponent
The former Wimbledon runner-up converted his decisive opportunity for a advantage before assuredly serving out the opener to zero
Having taken the majority of points to take the first set, Berrettini looked set to strengthen his grip on the match upon forcing opportunities in the initial game of the following set
Carreno Busta succeeded to save each before putting together a series of solid serving performances - but Berrettini took his following chance and served out to zero to complete his victory