Italy Secures Historic Three-Peat Tennis Trophy Championship
The Italian player won the sixth-longest tie-break in team tennis records to beat Belgium's Zizou Bergs during the semi-finals
Flavio Cobolli alongside Matteo Berrettini guided the Italian squad to Davis Cup success as the home team overcame Spain to capture a historic three-peat championship in front of an ecstatic home crowd
48 hours following he edged an epic lengthy decider, the Italian talent once again starred as he fought back from behind in sets to beat Jaume Munar in a grueling match
The 23-year-old's tenacious 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 triumph sealed a straight sets victory for his nation in Bologna after his teammate had triumphed 6-3 6-4 against Pablo Carreno Busta
It is a fourth Davis Cup victory overall for the Italian team, who are the first nation to achieve three consecutive championships since defending champions no longer received automatic qualification to the final over five decades back
Home Crowd Inspires Team Italy Triumph
Backed enthusiastically by the vast majority of a sell-out capacity crowd, Cobolli overcame a poor beginning to trigger moments of celebration among the Italian athletes, staff and fans
Cobolli was surrounded by his team-mates on the playing surface but paused for a moment to praise Munar on his efforts before rejoining the celebrations
Key Players Deliver in Missing Stars
Both Italy and Spain reached the championship match even with being without key players, with the non-participation of top-ranked players preventing spectators a seventh matchup of the season between the world's dominant men's players
But, with national second-ranked another key player too missing, the Italian duo seized their moments in the limelight with perfect records from all their matches apiece this week
Dramatic Recovery Seals Victory
The crowd chanted the player's name as he kept his calm to serve out his comeback triumph to zero, having forced 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 the final on home soil
In contrast to the events of the previous match, when the athlete tore off his shirt in celebration on "among the greatest" moments of his life, the world number 22 paid the price for a slow start as he lost a dominant opening set
But the determined player launched a necessary, immediate response after going a behind at the beginning of the second
Cobolli's fortunes seemed to shift after a nine-minute pause in the match when a member of the audience became unwell
When the match resumed, and with Munar down a critical moment, the player floated over a shot that caught a fortunate net tape and brought the game back on level terms
Even though frustratingly denied four set points on his rival's service game, the champion wrested control of a must-win breaker to push the decider - where he once again performed
The Veteran Continues Remarkable Run
The Italian star had earlier taken his team competition singles winning streak to 11 matches with an superb display against the Spanish opponent
The former Wimbledon runner-up converted his third break point for a advantage before confidently serving out the first set to love
Having won the majority of points to take the first set, Berrettini looked set to strengthen his hold on the contest upon forcing two break points in the opening game of the second
His opponent managed to save both before putting together a sequence of strong service games - but Berrettini took his next opportunity and served out to love to finish his victory