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By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, November 23, 2025Photo credit score: Davis Cup Fb
Italian flags had been streaming like vacation lights.
Digging down deep, Flavio Cobolli delivered the final word championship present to the Italian devoted.
A brave Cobolli roared again to defeat Jaume Munar 1-6, 7-6(5), 7-5 clinching host Italy’s third consecutive Davis Cup championship with a 2-0 victory over Spain on the SuperTennis Enviornment in Bologna.
Earlier, Matteo Berrettini beat Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3, 6-4 to stake Italy to a 1-0 lead and set the stage for Cobolli’s heroics finishing Italy’s Davis Cup triple crown earlier than raucous dwelling followers.
“It’s unattainable to explain these emotions,” Cobolli mentioned. “I dreamed lots of this evening. I don’t know the way I gained as a result of the match was tight.
“Jaume performed so good. We can’t lose for our international locations when you give all of what you’ve got in your coronary heart, I don’t know what occurred immediately, I don’t know the place I’m, however all the pieces I do know is we’re world champions.”
World No. 22 Cobolli emerged as a real tennis marathon man this week.
On Friday, Cobolli saved seven match factors out-dueling Zizou Bergs 6-3 6-7(5) 7-6(15) in a pulsating victory that spanned greater than three hours to clinch Italy’s semifinal win over Belgium. That epic got here after Berrettini beat Raphael Collignon 6-3, 6-4, prompting Cobolli, who has identified Berrettini since he was eight years outdated to comment his teammate “is sort of a brother to me.”
When Cobolli crashed one ultimate forehand to shut immediately, the whole Italian staff swarmed him like a festive household reunion.
Blown out within the opening set, Cobolli rode his fierce forehand to ignite his impressed comeback—simply two months after Munar scored a straight-sets win over the 23-year-old Italian on the Rolex Shanghai Masters.
On the SuperTennis Enviornment, Italy strengthened its repute as a tennis tremendous energy.
Picture credit score: Davis Cup Fb
“I feel Jaume performed very properly within the first set I used to be a bit nervous,” Cobolli mentioned. “I used to be shaky with my recreation. I checked out my bench and I discovered one thing on my physique and my coronary heart and I gave all the pieces for this staff. As I mentioned earlier than: I’m world champion.”
After clinching the Cup, Cobolli knelt down and kissed the court docket then arose to kiss the Italian flag on his chest embracing the largest match of his profession with ardour.
“It’s wonderful,” Cobolli mentioned. “I invite everybody that I actually need to come immediately and my household is right here, my mates, my brother, my girlfriend. I’m simply joyful. I need to rejoice with all of the staff.”
In a dramatic Davis Cup ultimate each nations competed with out their champion superstars.
World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz was sidelined with a proper hamstring damage, whereas Spanish Captain David Ferrer opted in opposition to choosing Alejandro Davidovich Fokina reportedly as a result of world No. 14 bailing out of a Davis Cup tie earlier this season. You’ll be able to’t fault Captain Ferrer for selecting the gamers he did as all confirmed great coronary heart carrying Spain to its first Davis Cup ultimate since 2019.
Wimbledon champion and world No. 2 Jannik Sinner, who led Italy to its final two Davis Cup championship, and world No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti, whose accomplice, Veronica, is pregnant and anticipating the couple’s second youngster.
Ultimately, Italian Captain Filippo Volandri shed tears of pleasure on the satisfaction his gamers confirmed this week. Italy didn’t drop a match within the quarterfinals, semifinals or ultimate profitable all six singles contests.
It’s Italy’s fourth Davis Cup championship general coming almost 50 years after legendary Adriano Panatta, the one man to beat Bjorn Borg at Roland Garros twice, led the Italians to the 1976 Cup.
“It’s the third win within the row, however I’m crying and I didn’t cry for the primary one,” Volandri mentioned. “It’s unbelievable. We had lots of robust moments even when it doesn’t seem like it.
“As a bunch we had the facility to handle this second. It was like Jannik and Musetti was right here. Solely when you’ve got a giant staff are you able to do that unbelievable end result. It’s unimaginable. Time to take pleasure in.”
Spare a thought for Munar and his Spanish teammates who competed with vigor all through the weekend.
The Spanish squad’s again was in opposition to the wall down 0-1 immediately. Munar put Spain on his shoulders and elevated in excellence in arguably his greatest opening set of the season.
Flying with ardour from the primary ball, Munar blitzed Cobolli profitable six straight factors to open the second singles match.
When Cobolli threw down an obvious point-ending smash, Munar answered with an outrageous Federer-esque backhand flick over the shoulder extending the purpose and ending with a forehand winner for break level. Attacking behind a backhand return down the road, Munar blasted a backhand swing volley breaking for 2-0
One other daring backhand down the road helped Munar again up the break as he leaped excessive within the air on his approach to the staff bench with a 3-0 lead.
A shell-shocked Cobolli earned triple break level—and 5 break factors in all—in a tense fifth recreation. Munar wouldn’t yield warding off all 5 break factors and standing tall by means of a 10-minute maintain for 5-0.
It took Cobolli 31 minutes to lastly get on the board.
That was a quick reprice. Munar threw down a love maintain to grab the primary set with a loud “Vamos!”
Munar cracked 13 winners, together with some spectacular strikes, in an excellent 33-minute set. Getting proper again to work, the Spaniard drained forehand errors to start out the second set with the break.
Resetting, Cobolli got here proper again to strain within the second recreation. The Italian earned break level then a fan apparently fell in poor health within the SuperTennis Enviornment followers resulting in a few nine-minute delay.
When play resumed, Munar instantly saved a break level then saved a 3rd break level. A Cobolli volley kissed the highest of the tape and slowly dribbled over on the Spaniard’s facet as he earned a fourth break level. When Munar netted a forehand, the Italian was degree at 1-all.
Neither man may threaten serve for a lot of the remainder of the set with each creating some well timed lobs to tame bother.
Serving at 5-6 to drive the tiebreaker, Munar confronted extreme stress erasing two set factors. The Spaniard used the slick serve and volley to avoid wasting a 3rd set level. Going through a fourth set level, Munar once more serve-and-volleyed hitting a pointy backhand volley.
Denying 4 set factors, a revitalized Munar slammed successive aces to drive the tiebreaker on the ascension.
Cobolli, a wonderful tiebreaker participant in 2025, instantly imposed his inside-out forehand. The Italian drilled diagonal forehand winners in succession then threw down a smash for 4-1.
Calmly awaiting the ball to drop, Cobollo crunched a bounce smash for 3 extra set factors.
On his seventh set level, Cobolli stepped in and rocketed a forehand down the road to seal the second set and leaped excessive off the court docket as if it had been a trampoline forcing the ultimate set.
In a match had been little separated the pair, Cobolli’s guts carried him by means of. Deadlocked at 5-all, Cobolli was firing his forehand with menacing intent incomes triple break level.
On his third break level, Cobolli erupted in an enormous grunt and large inside-out forehand breaking for 6-5.
With the Davis Cup gleaming over his shoulder, Cobolli flew by means of the end line serving out the match of his life with conviction with a love maintain to clinch the Cup in two hours, 56 minutes.
Matteo Berrettini d. Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3, 6-4
Matteo Berrettini opened this ultimate dropping the hammer on Pablo Carreno Busta, 6-3, 6-4 to stake Italy to a 1-0 lead.
Beset by accidents in recent times, Berrettini solidified his standing as Davis Cup warrior.
“So happy with myself, happy with my teammates, my coaches everybody who made this ultimate doable,” Berrettini mentioned afterward. “I’m actually joyful for the actual fact I’m right here.
“I attempted to take pleasure in on the market as a lot as I may. I’m actually proud, actually joyful my household is right here watching. It’s a kind of moments I’m gonna bear in mind the remainder of my life.”
Each Berrettini and Carreno Busta held agency till the eighth recreation.
A collection of deep returns from the Italian earned him triple break level. Focusing on his opponent’s weaker backhand wing, Carreno Busta saved two break factors.
On the third break level, Berrettini’s forehand clipped the tape and fell on the sideline. Following it ahead, Berrettini instinctively lined the crosscourt go and carved a high-quality backhand drop volley breaking for 5-3 and inciting the Italian staff to erupt with roaring assist.
Berrettini served out the set at love.
The 2021 Wimbledon finalist fired six aces in opposition to no double faults within the 35-minute opener. The heavy-hitting Berrettini hit seven extra winners—10 to three—within the first set.
Scoreboard strain and a collection of crackling Berrettini returns helped the Italian pierce the Spaniard’s serve within the ninth recreation of set two.
Down love-30, Carreno Busta tried attacking the Italian’s backhand, however Berrettini was ready and whipped a two-handed crosscourt go for triple break level.
On his second break level, Berrettini pounded a deep return proper down the center that churned on the Spaniard’s shoelaces scoring the essential break for 5-4.
Reaching again, Berrettini closed with conviction serving out the match at love and erupting with a primal scream earlier than embracing Italian captain Filippo Volandri in a bear hug.
Italian followers had been bouncing up and down as Berrettini capped an ideal 3-0 week of play in singles with out surrendering a set. Berrettini has not misplaced a Davis Cup singles match since bowing to Taylor Fritz in 2019.
The 29-year-old Rome resident, who went 5-0 in singles play serving to the Italians seize the 2024 Davis Cup, scored his eleventh consecutive Davis Cup singles victory to set the stage for teammate Flavio Cobolli to clinch the Cup.
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