The Italian team Clinches Historic Third Consecutive Tennis Trophy Title
The Italian player won the sixth-longest deciding set in team tennis history to overcome his Belgian opponent on Friday
Flavio Cobolli and Matteo Berrettini propelled the Italian squad to Davis Cup victory as the home team overcame Spain to secure a record-breaking three-peat championship in front of an overjoyed local supporters
48 hours after he edged an epic 32-point tie-break, Cobolli returned to shone as he recovered from a set and a break down to defeat his Spanish opponent in a grueling match
The young player's tenacious 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 success secured a straight sets triumph for his country in the Italian city after Berrettini had prevailed 6-3 6-4 against Pablo Carreno Busta
It is a fourth overall team championship victory in total for Italy, who are the first nation to win three consecutive championships since defending champions no longer received automatic qualification to the final over five decades back
Home Crowd Fuels Italian Victory
Supported enthusiastically by the overwhelming number of a sell-out capacity audience, the Italian star overcame a poor beginning to spark scenes of jubilation among the team athletes, coaches and supporters
Cobolli was surrounded by his teammates on the playing surface but paused for a moment to commend Munar on his efforts before returning to the festivities
Key Players Step Up in Missing Stars
Both the Italian squad and the Spanish team made the final despite being without star athletes, with the non-participation of top-ranked players denying fans a seventh meeting of the season between the world's dominant men's players
But, with Italian second-ranked another key player too absent, the Italian duo owned their moments in the spotlight with three wins from three singles matches apiece this week
Dramatic Recovery Seals Victory
The crowd chanted the player's moniker as he kept his composure to serve out his recovery triumph to love, having forced the decisive break in the 11th game of a tense deciding set
That was no mean feat, given he had stated he had realized a "dream" in delivering his nation to Sunday's final on home soil
In contrast to the events of Friday night, when the athlete removed his jersey in celebration on "one of the best" moments of his life, the ranked player faced the price for a slow start as he conceded a dominant opening set
But Cobolli launched a necessary, swift response after falling a break down at the start of the second
The Italian's fortunes appeared to change after a nine-minute stop in the match when a spectator of the crowd became ill
When play resumed, and with his opponent facing a critical moment, the Italian lobbed over a shot that hit a lucky net cord and brought the game back on level terms
Although frustratingly prevented multiple opportunities on his opponent's serve, the champion wrested control of a decisive tie-break to push the final set - where he once again delivered
Berrettini Extends Impressive Run
Berrettini had earlier extended his Davis Cup individual victory run to 11 matches with an excellent display against the Spanish opponent
The Grand Slam finalist converted his decisive opportunity for a advantage before confidently closing the first set to love
Having taken the majority of points to secure the first set, the player appeared ready to strengthen his grip on the match upon creating two break points in the opening game of the second
His opponent managed to survive each before putting together a series of solid service games - but the Italian seized his following chance and closed to love to complete his victory