How Italy’s 2006 World Cup win inspired Davis Cup hat-trick

“At the end, I looked down on my bench and discovered something inside of me.”

Flavio Cobolli needed the extra cheer as he battled to realize his dream of being a world champion as he fought for his victory from the sidelines.

In front of a jubilant home crowd in Bologna, the 23-year-old came back from a set and a break down to defeat Spain’s Jaume Munar to claim a historic third successive Davis Cup title.

Following Matteo Berrettini’s 6-3, 6-4 victory over Pablo Carreno Busta, Cobolli’s gritty 1-6, 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 victory came two days after he won an epic 32-point tie-break to confirm Italy’s place in Sunday’s showpiece.

It took a long time to create an Italian double act.

As a youngster, Berrettini and Cobolli’s father, former professional footballer Stefano, worked together. Cobolli, who was six years his junior, would frequently be needed for care and Cobolli would frequently engage in tennis with him.

After practicing together in 2011, a video from the Italian outlet Spazio Tennis shows Berrettini towering above Cobolli as they leave a tennis court.

After going unbeaten in singles in the tournament, Cobolli and the team-mate he describes as being “like a brother” to me were walking off the court in Italy as champions.

It’s difficult to describe this sensation. I had a lot of dreams this night,” Cobolli said.

“Our country cannot lose,” he said. You may learn, but you never lose.

Italy won their fourth overall victory in the Davis Cup since the defending champions stopped receiving automatic automatic qualification for the competition 53 years ago. They are the first nation to win three straight titles.

Despite missing key players, both Italy and Spain made it to the final. World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, who is currently injured, is not with Spain, and Lorenzo Musetti, who is also in Italy, is missing.

Cobolli and Berrettini, however, won three of their three singles matches and were the ones who won the spotlight.

Cobolli kept his composure as the crowd, which had forced the breakthrough in the eleventh game of a tense deciding set, sang his name to the ten-person crowd, who had already sold out.

Given his heroics in the semi-finals two days earlier, his heroics had left him feeling both emotionally and physically exhausted.

With a one-sided opening set conceded, world number 22 Cobolli had to pay the price for a slow start.

However, he immediately launched a necessary, immediate response after suffering a break-down at the start of the second before once more delivering in a crucial tie-break before finding the motivation to win a memorable game.

We made an effort to imitate the spirit of the 2006 World Cup-winning Italian football team, according to Cobolli.

Since Flavio and Berrettini first met when he was 14 and Flavio was eight, Berrettini has been there for Cobolli, who had already won 11 matches in his Davis Cup singles career with a strong performance against Carreno Busta.

Cobolli was struggling for form earlier this year, so Berrettini advised him to avoid competing in lower-tier competitions and instead to go back to a training regimen to regain his form.

In an interview with the International Tennis Federation, Bertrettini said, “I just told him, Don’t worry, child.”

Cobolli then won his next Hamburg-based ATP competition.

The fact that we are currently teammates is “crazy.” “It gives me goosebumps to reflect on this relationship over time,” Berrettini said.

After getting the team off to a winning start on Friday, Berrettini lost his voice and yelled Cobolli on in the dramatic semi-final against Belgium. He backed his childhood friend in the end all the way on Sunday.

Cobolli continued, “Every member of the team is special to me.”

Matteo is like a brother, but he’s special to me. He is very significant to me.