Flavio Cobolli secured the sixth-longest deciding set in team tennis history to beat his Belgian opponent on Friday
The young Italian star alongside his compatriot guided the Italian squad to Davis Cup glory as the hosts overcame Spain to secure a record-breaking third consecutive championship in front of an ecstatic local supporters
48 hours after he narrowly won an epic 32-point tie-break, the Italian talent once again shone as he recovered from a set and a break down to defeat his Spanish opponent in a grueling match
The 23-year-old's gritty 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 triumph clinched a 2-0 win for his country in Bologna after his teammate had triumphed in straight sets against Pablo Carreno Busta
It is a fourth Davis Cup title in total for Italy, who are the initial country to achieve three consecutive titles since title holders stopped receiving automatic qualification to the championship match 53 years ago
Home Crowd Inspires Italian Triumph
Backed passionately by the vast majority of a sell-out capacity crowd, the Italian star conquered a slow start to trigger scenes of celebration among the team athletes, staff and supporters
The champion was mobbed by his team-mates on court but paused for a moment to commend Munar on his performance before returning to the festivities
Key Players Deliver in Missing Stars
Each Italy and Spain made the final despite being without key players, with the non-participation of top-ranked players preventing fans a seventh meeting of 2025 between the top-ranked men's players
But, with Italian number two Lorenzo Musetti also missing, the Italian duo owned their moments in the spotlight with perfect records from all their matches each during the tournament
Thrilling Recovery Secures Victory
The crowd shouted Cobolli's moniker as he maintained his composure to serve out his comeback triumph to love, having achieved the breakthrough in the 11th game of a tense final set
That was quite an accomplishment, given he had stated he had achieved a "dream" in guiding his nation to Sunday's showpiece on home soil
In opposition to the events of the previous match, when Cobolli tore off his jersey in jubilation on "among the greatest" days of his career, the ranked player faced the consequence for a poor beginning as he conceded a one-sided first set
But the determined player initiated a essential, immediate comeback after going a break down at the beginning of the following set
Cobolli's luck appeared to change after a brief pause in the match when a member of the crowd became unwell
When play resumed, and with his opponent down break point, the Italian floated over a volley that caught a fortunate net cord and put the set to deuce
Although annoyingly denied multiple opportunities on his opponent's serve, Cobolli wrested control of a must-win breaker to push the decider - where he once again delivered
The Veteran Continues Remarkable Winning Streak
Berrettini had previously extended his Davis Cup singles victory run to eleven consecutive wins with an superb display against Carreno Busta
The former Wimbledon runner-up converted his third break point for a advantage before confidently serving out the first set to love
Having taken the majority of points to take the opening set, the player appeared ready to tighten his grip on the match upon creating opportunities in the opening game of the second
Carreno Busta succeeded to save each before putting together a sequence of solid service games - but the Italian took his next opportunity and closed to love to finish his triumph
