Italy Secures Historic Third Consecutive Tennis Trophy Title
Flavio Cobolli clinched one of the longest deciding set in team tennis history to defeat his Belgian opponent on Friday
Flavio Cobolli and his compatriot led the Italian squad to team tennis glory as the home team defeated Spain to claim a historic third consecutive championship in front of an ecstatic local supporters
Two days after he narrowly won a marathon 32-point decider, Cobolli once again excelled as he recovered from a set and a break down to defeat Jaume Munar in three sets
The young player's tenacious 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 success clinched a straight sets triumph for his nation in the Italian city after Berrettini had won in straight sets against the Spanish player
It is a fourth team championship victory overall for Italy, who are the initial country to achieve three straight championships since defending champions no longer received automatic qualification to the championship match over five decades back
Home Crowd Inspires Team Italy Triumph
Supported passionately by the overwhelming number of a sell-out 10,000-strong crowd, Cobolli conquered a slow start to trigger moments of jubilation among the Italian athletes, staff and fans
Cobolli was surrounded by his teammates on court but paused for a brief time to commend his opponent on his efforts before returning to the festivities
Star Performers Step Up in Absence
Each the Italian squad and the Spanish team reached the championship match even with being without star athletes, with the absence of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner denying fans a seventh matchup of the season between the world's dominant tennis stars
But, with national second-ranked another key player also absent, the Italian duo owned their moments in the spotlight with perfect records from three singles matches apiece during the tournament
Thrilling Comeback Seals Victory
The crowd chanted Cobolli's moniker as he kept his composure to serve out his comeback victory to zero, having achieved the breakthrough in the 11th game of a tense deciding set
That was quite an accomplishment, given he had admitted he had realized a "goal" in guiding his nation to Sunday's showpiece on domestic ground
In opposition to the scenes of Friday night, when the athlete tore off his jersey in jubilation on "one of the best" moments of his career, the ranked player faced the consequence for a slow start as he conceded a dominant first set
But Cobolli launched a necessary, swift comeback after falling a behind at the beginning of the second
Cobolli's luck appeared to change after a nine-minute pause in play when a member of the crowd became ill
When play continued, and with his opponent down a critical moment, the player floated over a shot that hit a fortunate net cord and brought the set back on level terms
Although frustratingly denied four set points on his rival's service game, the champion seized command of a decisive tie-break to push the final set - where he once again delivered
The Veteran Continues Impressive Winning Streak
Berrettini had previously extended his team competition individual victory run to 11 matches with an excellent performance against the Spanish opponent
The former Wimbledon runner-up used his decisive opportunity for a advantage before assuredly closing the first set to love
Having won the majority of points to secure the first set, the player looked set to tighten his hold on the match upon creating opportunities in the initial game of the second
His opponent succeeded to save each before producing a series of strong serving performances - but Berrettini seized his next opportunity and closed to love to complete his victory