The Italian team Clinches Record Third Straight Tennis Trophy Championship
Flavio Cobolli won one of the longest deciding set in Davis Cup history to overcome Belgium's Zizou Bergs on Friday
The young Italian star alongside his compatriot guided Italy to team tennis success as the hosts overcame the Spanish team to claim a record-breaking three-peat title in front of an jubilant local supporters
48 hours after he edged an epic 32-point decider, Cobolli once again starred as he fought back from behind in sets to beat Jaume Munar in a grueling match
The young player's gritty 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 win sealed a 2-0 victory for his nation in the Italian city after his teammate had won 6-3 6-4 against Pablo Carreno Busta
It is a fourth Davis Cup title overall for Italy, who are the initial country to achieve three consecutive titles since title holders no longer received direct entry to the final over five decades back
Local Supporters Fuels Italian Triumph
Backed passionately by the overwhelming number of a sell-out capacity audience, the Italian star overcame a slow start to trigger moments of celebration among the Italian athletes, coaches and supporters
The champion was mobbed by his team-mates on the playing surface but took a moment to commend his opponent on his efforts before rejoining the festivities
Star Performers Step Up in Absence
Each the Italian squad and Spain made the championship match despite missing star athletes, with the absence of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner denying fans a seventh meeting of the season between the top-ranked men's players
But, with Italian number two Lorenzo Musetti also missing, Cobolli and Berrettini seized their moments in the spotlight with three wins from all their matches each during the tournament
Thrilling Comeback Secures Win
The audience chanted the player's name as he maintained his calm to serve out his recovery victory to zero, having achieved the breakthrough in the penultimate game of a tense deciding set
That was no mean feat, given he had stated he had realized a "dream" in delivering Italy to Sunday's showpiece on domestic ground
In opposition to the events of the previous match, when the athlete tore off his jersey in jubilation on "one of the best" days of his life, the ranked player faced the price for a poor beginning as he conceded a dominant opening set
But the determined player launched a essential, immediate response after falling a break down at the beginning of the following set
Cobolli's fortunes seemed to change after a nine-minute stop in play when a member of the audience became unwell
When the match resumed, and with his opponent facing a critical moment, the Italian floated over a shot that caught a fortunate net cord and put the game back on level terms
Although annoyingly prevented four set points on his rival's service game, Cobolli seized command of a must-win breaker to push the decider - where he once again performed
The Veteran Continues Remarkable Run
Berrettini had earlier extended his Davis Cup individual victory run to 11 matches with an superb performance against Carreno Busta
The former Wimbledon runner-up converted his decisive opportunity for a 5-3 lead before confidently serving out the first set to zero
Having won 11 of the last 13 points to take the first set, the player looked set to strengthen his hold on the match upon forcing opportunities in the initial game of the following set
His opponent managed to survive both before producing a sequence of strong serving performances - but the Italian seized his following chance and served out to love to complete his victory