The Italian team Clinches Historic Third Consecutive Tennis Trophy Championship
Flavio Cobolli won the sixth-longest tie-break in team tennis records to beat his Belgian opponent during the semi-finals
Flavio Cobolli alongside his compatriot led Italy to Davis Cup victory as the hosts overcame the Spanish team to claim a record-breaking three-peat title in front of an overjoyed home crowd
48 hours following he narrowly won an epic 32-point tie-break, the Italian talent returned to excelled as he recovered from a set and a break down to defeat Jaume Munar in three sets
The young player's gritty 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 triumph secured a straight sets triumph for his country in Bologna after Berrettini had prevailed 6-3 6-4 against the Spanish player
It is a fourth Davis Cup title in total for the Italian team, who are the initial country to achieve three straight titles since title holders stopped receiving automatic qualification to the final over five decades back
Home Crowd Inspires Team Italy Victory
Backed passionately by the vast majority of a packed 10,000-strong audience, Cobolli conquered a slow start to spark scenes of celebration among the team players, staff and fans
Cobolli was mobbed by his teammates on the playing surface but paused for a brief time to commend Munar on his performance before rejoining the festivities
Key Players Step Up in Absence
Both the Italian squad and the Spanish team made the championship match even with being without key players, with the absence of top-ranked players preventing spectators a seventh matchup of the season between the world's dominant men's players
But, with Italian number two another key player also absent, Cobolli and Berrettini owned their moments in the limelight with three wins from three singles matches each during the tournament
Dramatic Comeback Secures Victory
The audience chanted the player's name as he maintained his composure to serve out his recovery victory to love, having achieved the decisive break in the penultimate game of a tense deciding set
That was quite an accomplishment, given he had admitted he had achieved a "goal" in delivering his nation to the final on home soil
In contrast to the scenes of the previous match, when the athlete removed his jersey in celebration on "among the greatest" days of his life, the world number 22 faced the price for a slow start as he lost a one-sided first set
But the determined player initiated a essential, swift comeback after falling a break down at the beginning of the second
Cobolli's fortunes appeared to shift after a brief pause in the match when a spectator of the audience became ill
When the match resumed, and with his opponent down a critical moment, the Italian floated over a shot that hit a fortunate net cord and brought the set to deuce
Although annoyingly prevented four set points on his opponent's service game, Cobolli wrested command of a decisive tie-break to push the decider - where he once again performed
The Veteran Extends Remarkable Winning Streak
The Italian star had previously taken his team competition singles winning streak to 11 matches with an excellent display against the Spanish opponent
The former Wimbledon runner-up used his decisive opportunity for a 5-3 lead before confidently closing the opener to zero
Having taken 11 of the last 13 points to secure the first set, Berrettini appeared ready to strengthen his grip on the match upon creating opportunities in the initial game of the second
His opponent succeeded to survive both before putting together a series of strong service games - but Berrettini seized his next opportunity and served out to love to finish his victory