Italy Secures Record Third Consecutive Davis Cup Title

Italian celebration

The Italian player won the sixth-longest tie-break in Davis Cup history to defeat Belgium's Zizou Bergs on Friday

Flavio Cobolli alongside his compatriot guided the Italian squad to team tennis victory as the hosts overcame the Spanish team to secure a historic third successive title in front of an jubilant home crowd

48 hours after he edged a marathon lengthy decider, Cobolli returned to excelled as he battled back from a set and a break down to beat Jaume Munar in a grueling match

The 23-year-old's gritty comeback victory triumph secured a straight sets triumph for his nation in the Italian city after his teammate had prevailed in straight sets against Pablo Carreno Busta

It is a fourth overall team championship victory in total for Italy, who are the initial country to achieve three consecutive championships since defending champions stopped receiving automatic qualification to the final over five decades back

Home Crowd Fuels Italian Victory

Supported passionately by the vast majority of a sell-out 10,000-strong crowd, the Italian star overcame a slow start to trigger moments of jubilation among the Italian players, coaches and supporters

The champion was mobbed by his teammates on court but paused for a moment to praise his opponent on his efforts before returning to the celebrations

Key Players Step Up in Absence

Both the Italian squad and Spain reached the final even with missing key players, with the absence of top-ranked players denying spectators a seventh matchup of the season between the top-ranked tennis stars

But, with Italian second-ranked another key player too missing, Cobolli and Berrettini owned their moments in the limelight with perfect records from three singles matches apiece this week

Thrilling Comeback Secures Win

The audience shouted Cobolli's moniker as he maintained his composure to serve out his comeback victory to love, having achieved the breakthrough in the penultimate game of a nail-biting deciding set

That was no mean feat, given he had stated he had realized a "goal" in guiding Italy to Sunday's final on domestic ground

In opposition to the scenes of Friday night, when the athlete tore off his shirt in celebration on "one of the best" moments of his career, the ranked player faced the consequence for a slow start as he lost a one-sided opening set

But Cobolli initiated a necessary, swift response after falling a behind at the start of the second

The Italian's luck appeared to shift after a brief stop in play when a member of the crowd became ill

When the match resumed, and with his opponent facing a critical moment, the player lobbed over a volley that caught a fortunate net cord and put the set back on level terms

Although annoyingly prevented multiple opportunities on his opponent's serve, Cobolli wrested control of a must-win tie-break to force the final set - where he yet again delivered

The Veteran Extends Remarkable Run

Berrettini had earlier extended his Davis Cup individual winning streak to 11 matches with an excellent performance against the Spanish opponent

The Grand Slam finalist used his decisive opportunity for a 5-3 lead before assuredly serving out the opener to love

Having taken the majority of points to take the opening set, Berrettini looked set to strengthen his hold on the match upon creating two break points in the opening game of the second

His opponent managed to survive both before putting together a series of strong serving performances - but Berrettini seized his following chance and closed to love to finish his triumph

Sharon Mitchell
Sharon Mitchell

A certified nutritionist and wellness coach with over a decade of experience in holistic health, passionate about sharing natural remedies and sustainable living tips.