The Italian player clinched one of the longest deciding set in Davis Cup records to defeat his Belgian opponent during the semi-finals
Flavio Cobolli alongside his compatriot propelled Italy to team tennis success as the home team defeated Spain to capture a historic three-peat championship in front of an overjoyed local supporters
Two days after he narrowly won an epic 32-point tie-break, Cobolli once again starred as he battled back from a set and a break down to beat Jaume Munar in a grueling match
The 23-year-old's determined 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 win sealed a straight sets victory for his country in the Italian city after Berrettini had prevailed in straight sets against the Spanish player
It is a fourth overall team championship victory overall for the Italian team, who are the first nation to win three consecutive titles since defending champions no longer received automatic qualification to the championship match 53 years ago
Local Supporters Inspires Italian Victory
Supported passionately by the vast majority of a sell-out 10,000-strong audience, the Italian star conquered a poor beginning to trigger moments of celebration among the Italian players, staff and fans
Cobolli was mobbed by his teammates on court but took a moment to praise Munar on his performance before rejoining the festivities
Key Players Deliver in Missing Stars
Each Italy and the Spanish team reached the championship match despite missing key players, with the non-participation of top-ranked players denying fans a seventh meeting of 2025 between the top-ranked tennis stars
But, with national number two Lorenzo Musetti too missing, Cobolli and Berrettini seized their opportunities in the limelight with three wins from all their matches each during the tournament
Dramatic Comeback Secures Victory
The crowd chanted the player's name as he kept his calm to close out his comeback victory to zero, having forced the breakthrough in the 11th game of a nail-biting deciding set
That was quite an accomplishment, given he had admitted he had achieved a "dream" in delivering his nation to the showpiece on domestic ground
In opposition to the events of Friday night, when the athlete removed his shirt in jubilation on "among the greatest" moments of his life, the ranked player faced the consequence for a slow start as he conceded a dominant first set
But the determined player launched a necessary, swift response after going a behind at the start of the following set
The Italian's luck seemed to change after a brief pause in play when a spectator of the audience became ill
When play continued, and with Munar down a critical moment, the Italian floated over a shot that caught a lucky net tape and put the set back on level terms
Although frustratingly prevented four set points on his opponent's service game, Cobolli wrested control of a decisive tie-break to push the decider - where he once again delivered
Berrettini Extends Impressive Winning Streak
The Italian star had previously taken his team competition individual winning streak to eleven consecutive wins with an superb performance against the Spanish opponent
The Grand Slam finalist converted his third break point for a advantage before assuredly closing the opener to zero
Having taken 11 of the last 13 points to take the first set, the player looked set to tighten his hold on the match upon creating two break points in the initial game of the second
Carreno Busta managed to survive both before putting together a series of strong service games - but the Italian seized his following chance and served out to love to finish his triumph
