Italy Clinches Record Three-Peat Tennis Trophy Championship
The Italian player secured one of the longest deciding set in team tennis records to beat his Belgian opponent during the semi-finals
Flavio Cobolli and his compatriot propelled the Italian squad to Davis Cup victory as the home team overcame the Spanish team to secure a historic third successive championship in front of an jubilant local supporters
Two days after he edged a marathon lengthy decider, the Italian talent once again excelled as he fought back from a set and a break down to beat Jaume Munar in a grueling match
The young player's determined 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 triumph clinched a 2-0 win for his nation in Bologna after his teammate had prevailed in straight sets against Pablo Carreno Busta
It is a fourth overall team championship victory overall for Italy, who are the first nation to achieve three consecutive titles since defending champions no longer received direct entry to the final 53 years ago
Local Supporters Fuels Italian Victory
Supported enthusiastically by the overwhelming number of a packed capacity audience, the Italian star conquered a poor beginning to trigger moments of jubilation among the team players, staff and supporters
The champion was surrounded by his teammates on court but paused for a brief time to commend Munar on his performance before returning to the celebrations
Star Performers Deliver in Absence
Each the Italian squad and Spain made the championship match even with being without star athletes, with the absence of top-ranked players denying fans a seventh meeting of the season between the top-ranked men's players
But, with Italian number two Lorenzo Musetti too absent, Cobolli and Berrettini owned their moments in the limelight with perfect records from three singles matches apiece during the tournament
Dramatic Comeback Seals Victory
The crowd shouted Cobolli's name as he kept his composure to close out his comeback victory to zero, having achieved the decisive break in the penultimate game of a nail-biting deciding set
That was no mean feat, given he had stated he had achieved 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 shirt in jubilation on "among the greatest" days of his career, the world number 22 faced the price for a slow start as he conceded a dominant opening set
But the determined player launched a necessary, immediate comeback after going a behind at the start of the second
Cobolli's fortunes seemed to shift after a brief pause in the match when a spectator of the audience became unwell
When the match continued, and with Munar facing break point, the player floated over a volley that caught a lucky net cord and put the game back on level terms
Although annoyingly denied four set points on his opponent's service game, Cobolli wrested command of a must-win breaker to force the final set - where he yet again performed
The Veteran Extends Impressive Run
The Italian star had earlier extended his team competition individual winning streak to 11 matches with an superb performance against Carreno Busta
The former Wimbledon runner-up converted his decisive opportunity for a 5-3 lead before confidently serving out the opener to zero
Having won the majority of points to take the first set, Berrettini appeared ready to strengthen his grip on the match upon creating two break points in the initial game of the following set
His opponent succeeded to survive both before producing a sequence of solid service games - but Berrettini seized his following chance and served out to love to finish his victory