🔗 Share this article

Flavio Cobolli alongside Matteo Berrettini led Italy to team tennis glory as the hosts defeated Spain to claim a historic third consecutive title in front of an overjoyed local supporters

Two days following he narrowly won a marathon lengthy decider, the Italian talent returned to starred as he battled back from a set and a break down to overcome his Spanish opponent in three sets

The 23-year-old's gritty 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 success sealed a 2-0 win for his nation in Bologna after Berrettini had triumphed in straight sets against Pablo Carreno Busta

It is a fourth Davis Cup title overall for Italy, who are the initial country to achieve three straight championships since title holders stopped receiving automatic qualification to the championship match 53 years ago

Local Supporters Inspires Team Italy Triumph

Supported passionately by the vast majority of a sell-out 10,000-strong crowd, Cobolli conquered a slow start to trigger scenes of jubilation among the Italian athletes, staff and fans

The champion was surrounded by his teammates on the playing surface but paused for a moment to commend Munar on his performance before returning to the festivities

Star Performers Deliver in Absence

Both Italy and the Spanish team made the championship match despite missing key players, 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 second-ranked Lorenzo Musetti too absent, Cobolli and Berrettini owned their moments in the limelight with three wins from all their matches apiece during the tournament

Thrilling Recovery Secures Win

The crowd chanted Cobolli's name as he maintained his calm to close out his comeback triumph to zero, having achieved the decisive break in the 11th game of a nail-biting final set

That was no mean feat, given he had admitted he had realized a "dream" in delivering Italy to the final on domestic ground

In contrast to the events of Friday night, when the athlete removed his shirt in jubilation on "one of the best" moments of his career, the ranked player paid the consequence for a poor beginning as he conceded a one-sided opening set

But the determined player initiated a necessary, swift comeback after going a break down at the beginning of the following set

The Italian's luck appeared to change after a nine-minute stop in the match when a member of the audience became unwell

When play resumed, and with Munar down a critical moment, the Italian floated over a shot that hit a lucky net tape and brought the set back on level terms

Even though annoyingly prevented multiple opportunities on his rival's serve, Cobolli seized control of a decisive breaker to force the decider - where he once again delivered

Berrettini Continues Remarkable Winning Streak

The Italian star had earlier taken his Davis Cup individual winning streak to eleven consecutive wins with an excellent performance against Carreno Busta

The Grand Slam finalist used his decisive opportunity for a 5-3 lead before confidently closing the opener to love

Having won the majority of points to take the opening set, the player appeared ready to strengthen his hold on the match upon forcing two break points in the opening game of the following set

His opponent succeeded to save each before producing a sequence of solid service games - but Berrettini took his next opportunity and closed to zero to finish his victory