Italy lifted a third consecutive Davis Cup crown on Sunday after defeating Spain 2-0 in front of jubilant home supporters in Bologna.
Flavio Cobolli completed the triumph with a spirited comeback, overturning a poor start to beat Jaume Munar 1-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 and ensure the hosts retained their title. His win sparked loud celebrations inside the arena as Italy confirmed their dominance in the competition.
Matteo Berrettini had earlier set the tone with a commanding 6-3, 6-4 victory over Pablo Carreno Busta, leaving captain Filippo Volandri’s team on the brink of success and making the doubles match unnecessary.
Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori were unused throughout the tie as Italy won the Davis Cup without dropping a match. It was an impressive achievement, made all the more remarkable given the absence of their two top-ranked stars, Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti, both of whom are inside the world’s top ten but opted not to take part in the title defence on home soil.
Spain were also without world number one Carlos Alcaraz. The six-time Grand Slam champion had hoped to feature but was ruled out following a hamstring injury sustained during his ATP Finals encounter with Sinner the previous week.
Earlier on Sunday, International Tennis Federation president David Haggerty rejected the notion that elite players were intentionally avoiding the competition.
“There is this false feeling out there that top players do not represent their nation. That is not true,” Haggerty told reporters before the final.
“Some of those top players that played in the qualifier round or the second qualifier round did not make it to the finals. We had many top players who have played.”
Among those involved in the early rounds were American Taylor Fritz, Australian Alex de Minaur, Denmark’s Holger Rune and Norway’s Casper Ruud, all ranked inside the world’s top 20, although none managed to guide their nations to the finals.
