Flavio Cobolli secured the sixth-longest deciding set in Davis Cup history to beat Belgium's Zizou Bergs on Friday
Flavio Cobolli alongside Matteo Berrettini propelled the Italian squad to Davis Cup success as the home team defeated the Spanish team to secure a historic third successive championship in front of an jubilant home crowd
Two days following he edged a marathon 32-point decider, Cobolli once again starred as he fought back from a set and a break down to defeat Jaume Munar in three sets
The 23-year-old's gritty 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 win sealed a straight sets victory for his nation in Bologna after Berrettini had prevailed 6-3 6-4 against the Spanish player
It is a fourth Davis Cup title overall for Italy, who are the first nation to achieve three consecutive titles since defending champions no longer received automatic qualification to the final 53 years ago
Local Supporters Fuels Italian Victory
Backed enthusiastically by the vast majority of a sell-out 10,000-strong crowd, Cobolli conquered a poor beginning to spark moments of jubilation among the Italian athletes, coaches and fans
The champion was surrounded by his teammates on court but paused for a moment to commend his opponent on his performance before returning to the festivities
Star Performers Step Up in Absence
Each the Italian squad and Spain reached the final despite missing star athletes, with the non-participation of top-ranked players denying spectators a seventh meeting of 2025 between the world's dominant men's players
But, with national second-ranked Lorenzo Musetti too absent, Cobolli and Berrettini seized their moments in the limelight with three wins from three singles matches each during the tournament
Dramatic Recovery Secures Win
The crowd shouted Cobolli's moniker as he kept his composure to close out his comeback victory to zero, having forced the decisive break in the penultimate game of a tense final set
That was no mean feat, given he had stated he had achieved a "goal" in delivering his nation to the showpiece on domestic ground
In contrast to the scenes 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 poor beginning as he conceded a dominant opening set
But Cobolli initiated a necessary, immediate comeback after falling a break down at the beginning of the following set
The Italian's fortunes seemed to shift after a nine-minute pause in play when a spectator of the crowd became unwell
When play resumed, and with Munar down break point, the Italian floated over a volley that caught a lucky net tape and put the game to deuce
Even though annoyingly denied four set points on his opponent's serve, the champion wrested control of a decisive breaker to force the final set - where he once again delivered
The Veteran Continues Impressive Run
Berrettini had earlier extended his team competition singles victory run to 11 matches with an superb performance against Carreno Busta
The former Wimbledon runner-up converted his third break point for a advantage before confidently serving out the opener to zero
Having won 11 of the last 13 points to secure the opening set, the player appeared ready to strengthen his grip on the contest upon creating two break points in the initial game of the following set
His opponent managed to save both before putting together a series of solid service games - but Berrettini took his following chance and closed to zero to complete his victory
