Italy Wins Historic Third Consecutive Davis Cup Title
The Italian player won the sixth-longest deciding set in Davis Cup records to defeat Belgium's Zizou Bergs during the semi-finals
The young Italian star and Matteo Berrettini led Italy to Davis Cup success as the hosts beat Spain to capture a record-breaking third successive championship in front of an jubilant local supporters
48 hours after he edged a marathon 32-point tie-break, Cobolli returned to excelled as he fought back from a set and a break down to beat his Spanish opponent in three sets
The 23-year-old's determined 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 success secured a 2-0 triumph for his country in the Italian city after his teammate had prevailed 6-3 6-4 against Pablo Carreno Busta
It is a fourth Davis Cup title in total for Italy, who are the initial country to achieve three consecutive championships since defending champions stopped receiving direct entry to the final over five decades back
Home Crowd Fuels Team Italy Triumph
Supported enthusiastically by the overwhelming number of a sell-out capacity audience, the Italian star conquered a slow start to trigger scenes of celebration among the Italian athletes, staff and supporters
Cobolli was mobbed by his teammates on court but took a moment to commend Munar on his efforts before rejoining the celebrations
Star Performers Deliver in Absence
Both Italy and the Spanish team reached the final despite missing key players, with the non-participation of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner preventing fans a seventh matchup of the season between the top-ranked tennis stars
But, with national second-ranked another key player also absent, Cobolli and Berrettini seized their opportunities in the spotlight with perfect records from all their matches apiece during the tournament
Thrilling Comeback Secures Victory
The audience shouted the player's moniker as he maintained his composure to close out his comeback triumph to zero, having achieved the breakthrough in the 11th game of a tense deciding set
That was no mean feat, given he had stated he had achieved a "goal" in guiding Italy to Sunday's final on home soil
In contrast to the scenes of the previous match, when Cobolli removed his jersey in celebration on "among the greatest" days of his life, the world number 22 faced the consequence for a slow start as he conceded a dominant opening set
But the determined player initiated a necessary, immediate comeback after going a behind at the beginning of the second
Cobolli's luck seemed to shift after a nine-minute stop in play when a spectator of the crowd became unwell
When play continued, and with his opponent down a critical moment, the player floated over a volley that caught a fortunate net tape and brought the game to deuce
Even though annoyingly denied four set points on his opponent's serve, the champion seized command of a must-win tie-break to push the decider - where he once again performed
The Veteran Extends Remarkable Run
The Italian star had earlier extended his Davis Cup individual winning streak to 11 matches with an excellent display against the Spanish opponent
The former Wimbledon runner-up converted his decisive opportunity for a advantage before confidently closing the first set to zero
Having taken 11 of the last 13 points to secure the first set, the player appeared ready to tighten his grip on the match upon creating two break points in the initial game of the second
Carreno Busta succeeded to survive both before producing a sequence of strong service games - but Berrettini seized his following chance and served out to love to finish his victory