Italy Clinches Historic Third Consecutive Tennis Trophy Title
The Italian player clinched the sixth-longest deciding set in Davis Cup records to defeat his Belgian opponent during the semi-finals
Flavio Cobolli alongside his compatriot guided the Italian squad to team tennis success as the home team beat Spain to secure a record-breaking third consecutive title in front of an jubilant home crowd
Two days after he edged an epic 32-point tie-break, the Italian talent once again excelled as he fought back from behind in sets to overcome Jaume Munar in three sets
The young player's determined 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 win clinched a straight sets win for his country in Bologna after his teammate had won in straight sets against the Spanish player
It is a fourth team championship victory in total for the Italian team, who are the first nation to win three straight titles since title holders no longer received automatic qualification to the final 53 years ago
Home Crowd Inspires Team Italy Victory
Supported passionately by the overwhelming number of a sell-out 10,000-strong crowd, the Italian star overcame a slow start to spark scenes of jubilation among the team players, coaches and supporters
Cobolli was surrounded by his teammates on the playing surface but paused for a brief time to praise his opponent on his efforts before returning to the celebrations
Key Players Deliver in Absence
Each the Italian squad and Spain made the championship match even with missing star athletes, with the absence of top-ranked players denying spectators a seventh meeting of the season between the world's dominant men's players
But, with national number two Lorenzo Musetti too missing, the Italian duo owned their moments in the spotlight with three wins from three singles matches each this week
Dramatic Recovery Seals Win
The audience chanted the player's name as he maintained his composure to close out his recovery victory to love, having forced the decisive break in the penultimate game of a tense final set
That was no mean feat, given he had stated he had realized a "goal" in guiding Italy to the final on home soil
In opposition to the scenes of the previous match, when Cobolli tore off his shirt in jubilation on "among the greatest" moments of his career, the ranked player faced the consequence for a slow start as he lost a one-sided first set
But the determined player launched a necessary, swift comeback after falling a behind at the start of the following set
The Italian's luck appeared to change after a nine-minute stop in the match when a spectator of the audience became ill
When play resumed, and with his opponent down a critical moment, the Italian floated over a volley that hit a lucky net tape and put the set back on level terms
Even though annoyingly denied four set points on his rival's service game, Cobolli wrested control of a must-win tie-break to push the final set - where he yet again performed
The Veteran Extends Remarkable Winning Streak
The Italian star had earlier taken his team competition singles victory run to eleven consecutive wins with an superb performance against the Spanish opponent
The Grand Slam finalist used his third break point for a advantage before confidently closing the opener to love
Having won the majority of points to take the first set, Berrettini looked set to tighten his grip on the match upon forcing opportunities in the initial game of the following set
Carreno Busta succeeded to survive each before putting together a series of solid service games - but the Italian seized his following chance and closed to love to complete his victory
