🔗 Share this article

Flavio Cobolli alongside Matteo Berrettini propelled Italy to Davis Cup success as the home team defeated the Spanish team to claim a historic third consecutive title in front of an jubilant local supporters

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

The young player's determined 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 win sealed a straight sets win for his nation in Bologna after his teammate had won in straight sets against the Spanish player

It is a fourth overall Davis Cup title in total for Italy, who are the initial country to win three consecutive titles since title holders no longer received direct entry to the final 53 years ago

Home Crowd Inspires Italian Victory

Backed enthusiastically by the vast majority of a sell-out capacity audience, the Italian star overcame a poor beginning to trigger moments of celebration among the Italian players, coaches and supporters

The champion was surrounded by his team-mates on court but paused for a brief time to commend his opponent on his efforts before rejoining the celebrations

Key Players Step Up in Absence

Each Italy and the Spanish team reached the final even with being without key players, with the absence of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner denying spectators a seventh meeting of 2025 between the world's dominant men's players

But, with national number two Lorenzo Musetti too missing, the Italian duo owned their moments in the limelight with perfect records from all their matches apiece during the tournament

Dramatic Recovery Seals Victory

The audience chanted Cobolli's moniker as he kept his composure to close out his recovery triumph to zero, having achieved the breakthrough in the 11th game of a tense final set

That was quite an accomplishment, given he had admitted he had achieved a "dream" in guiding Italy to the final on domestic ground

In opposition to the events of Friday night, when the athlete tore off his shirt in jubilation on "one of the best" days of his life, the ranked player paid the consequence for a slow start as he lost a dominant opening set

But Cobolli launched a necessary, swift response after going a break down at the start of the second

Cobolli's luck appeared to change after a brief stop in the match when a member of the crowd became ill

When play continued, and with his opponent down a critical moment, the Italian lobbed over a shot that hit a fortunate net tape and put the game to deuce

Even though frustratingly prevented four set points on his rival's service game, Cobolli wrested control of a must-win tie-break to force the final set - where he once again delivered

Berrettini Continues Impressive Run

Berrettini had previously taken his Davis Cup individual winning streak to 11 matches with an excellent display against the Spanish opponent

The former Wimbledon runner-up converted his third break point for a advantage before assuredly serving out the opener to zero

Having won 11 of the last 13 points to secure the first set, Berrettini appeared ready to tighten his grip on the contest upon forcing two break points in the initial game of the following set

His opponent managed to survive both before putting together a series of strong service games - but Berrettini took his following chance and served out to zero to complete his triumph