Italy Wins Record Third Straight Tennis Trophy Championship
The Italian player won one of the longest tie-break in Davis Cup records to defeat Belgium's Zizou Bergs during the semi-finals
The young Italian star and Matteo Berrettini propelled Italy to Davis Cup victory as the home team defeated the Spanish team to claim a historic three-peat title in front of an jubilant home crowd
48 hours after he edged a marathon 32-point tie-break, Cobolli returned to excelled as he recovered from behind in sets to overcome Jaume Munar in a grueling match
The young player's gritty 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 success clinched a 2-0 win for his country in the Italian city after Berrettini had won in straight sets against the Spanish player
It is a fourth overall team championship victory overall for Italy, who are the initial country to achieve three consecutive titles since defending champions no longer received automatic qualification to the championship match over five decades back
Local Supporters Inspires Italian Triumph
Supported passionately by the vast majority of a sell-out 10,000-strong crowd, the Italian star conquered a slow start to trigger scenes of celebration among the team athletes, coaches and supporters
Cobolli was mobbed by his team-mates on the playing surface but paused for a brief time to praise his opponent on his performance before returning to the celebrations
Star Performers Step Up in Missing Stars
Each Italy and the Spanish team made the championship match despite being without star athletes, with the absence of top-ranked players preventing spectators a seventh meeting of 2025 between the world's dominant tennis stars
But, with national number two another key player also missing, Cobolli and Berrettini owned their moments in the limelight with three wins from all their matches each during the tournament
Dramatic Recovery Seals Victory
The crowd chanted the player's name as he maintained his composure to serve out his recovery triumph to love, having forced the decisive break in the 11th game of a nail-biting final set
That was quite an accomplishment, given he had admitted he had achieved a "goal" in delivering Italy to the final on home soil
In opposition to the scenes of the previous match, when the athlete removed his jersey in jubilation on "one of the best" moments of his life, the world number 22 paid the consequence for a poor beginning as he conceded a dominant first set
But the determined player launched a essential, swift comeback after falling a break down at the beginning of the second
The Italian's fortunes seemed to shift after a nine-minute pause in play when a spectator of the crowd became unwell
When the match resumed, and with his opponent facing a critical moment, the Italian lobbed over a shot that hit a fortunate net tape and put the set to deuce
Although frustratingly denied four set points on his opponent's service game, the champion seized control of a must-win tie-break to push the decider - where he yet again performed
Berrettini Extends Impressive Winning Streak
Berrettini had earlier taken his team competition singles winning streak to eleven consecutive wins with an superb performance against the Spanish opponent
The Grand Slam finalist used his third break point for a 5-3 lead before confidently serving out the opener to love
Having won 11 of the last 13 points to secure the first set, Berrettini appeared ready to tighten his grip on the match upon forcing two break points in the initial game of the second
His opponent managed to save both before producing a sequence of solid service games - but the Italian took his next opportunity and closed to zero to complete his triumph
