Italy Secures Historic Third Consecutive Davis Cup Championship
The Italian player clinched one of the longest deciding set in team tennis history to defeat his Belgian opponent during the semi-finals
The young Italian star and Matteo Berrettini led the Italian squad to team tennis success as the hosts defeated Spain to capture a record-breaking third successive championship in front of an overjoyed home crowd
Two days following he narrowly won an epic lengthy decider, Cobolli returned to excelled as he recovered from behind in sets to overcome his Spanish opponent in a grueling match
The 23-year-old's gritty 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 win clinched a 2-0 triumph for his nation in Bologna after Berrettini had won in straight sets against Pablo Carreno Busta
It is a fourth team championship title overall for Italy, who are the first nation to achieve three straight titles since title holders no longer received direct entry to the championship match 53 years ago
Local Supporters Fuels Team Italy Victory
Backed passionately by the overwhelming number of a sell-out 10,000-strong crowd, Cobolli conquered a slow start to trigger moments of jubilation among the Italian players, coaches and fans
Cobolli was surrounded by his team-mates on court but paused for a moment to commend his opponent on his performance before returning to the celebrations
Key Players Step Up in Absence
Both Italy and Spain made the final even with missing star athletes, with the absence of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner preventing fans a seventh meeting of the season between the top-ranked tennis stars
But, with Italian second-ranked Lorenzo Musetti too missing, the Italian duo seized their moments in the spotlight with perfect records from three singles matches each this week
Dramatic Comeback Secures Victory
The audience shouted the player's name as he kept his composure to close out his comeback victory to zero, having achieved the breakthrough in the 11th game of a tense deciding set
That was no mean feat, given he had stated he had realized a "goal" in guiding his nation to Sunday's final on domestic ground
In opposition to the scenes of Friday night, when Cobolli removed his shirt in celebration on "one of the best" days of his career, the ranked player paid the price for a poor beginning as he lost a one-sided opening set
But the determined player initiated a necessary, swift response after going a behind at the start of the following set
The Italian's fortunes appeared to change after a brief stop in the match when a spectator of the crowd became ill
When the match resumed, and with his opponent facing a critical moment, the player floated over a shot that caught a fortunate net cord and put the game back on level terms
Although frustratingly prevented multiple opportunities on his opponent's service game, the champion wrested control of a must-win breaker to push the final set - where he once again performed
Berrettini Extends Remarkable Run
The Italian star had earlier taken his Davis Cup individual winning streak to eleven consecutive wins with an excellent performance against the Spanish opponent
The former Wimbledon runner-up used his decisive opportunity for a advantage before assuredly serving out the opener to zero
Having won 11 of the last 13 points to secure the first set, the player appeared ready to tighten his hold on the match upon forcing opportunities in the opening game of the following set
Carreno Busta succeeded to survive each before putting together a sequence of strong service games - but Berrettini took his next opportunity and served out to love to complete his victory