‘Brotherhood’ inspires Italy to third Davis Cup title

“At the end, I looked at my bench and found something in my heart.”

For Flavio Cobolli, the faces cheering him from the sidelines gave him the extra push he needed to realize his dream of becoming world champion.

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The 23-year-old claimed a historic third consecutive Davis Cup title for Italy by coming back from a set down and a defeat against Spaniard Jaume Munar to seal a 2-0 triumph in front of a jubilant home crowd in Bologna.

Cobolli’s 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 victory, won two days after confirming Italy’s place in Sunday’s final by winning an epic 32-point tie-breakfollowed Matteo Berrettini’s 6-3 6-4 victory over Pablo Carreno Busta.

It was an Italian double act that had been a long time in the making.

Berrettini worked with Cobolli’s father, former player Stefano, when he was young. He was often called upon to look after Cobolli – six years his junior – and kept him busy by playing tennis with him.

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A video shared on social networks by an Italian media Spazio Tennis shows Berrettini towering over Cobolli as they leave a tennis court after training together in 2011.

Fourteen years later, Cobolli and his teammate who he describes as being “like a brother” to me walked off the court in Italy as Davis Cup champions, having gone undefeated in singles play in the tournament.

“It’s impossible to describe this feeling. I dreamed a lot last night,” Cobolli said.

“We can’t lose for our country. Sometimes you learn, but you never lose.

“I don’t know what I did today. I don’t know where I am. The only thing I know is that I’m world champion.”

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How ‘brotherhood’ inspired Italy to victory

It is a fourth Davis Cup title for Italy, which is the first nation to win three consecutive titles since the defending champions stopped automatically qualifying for the finals 53 years ago.

Italy and Spain reached the final despite missing key players. Spain was without injured world number one Carlos Alcaraz, while second-ranked Jannik Sinner and 10th-ranked Lorenzo Musetti were absent for Italy.

But Cobolli and Berrettini dominated their moments in the spotlight with three wins in three singles matches each.

The vast majority of the 10,000 sell-out crowd chanted Cobolli’s name as he kept his cool to serve out his comeback victory at love, after forcing the breakthrough in the 11th game of a tense deciding set.

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It was no small feat, considering the emotional and physical fatigue caused by his semi-final exploits two days earlier.

World number 22 Cobolli paid the price for a slow start by conceding a one-sided first set.

But he launched a necessary and immediate response after falling early in the second, before once again delivering a crucial tie-break and then finding the inspiration to complete his memorable victory.

“We tried to recreate the spirit of the Italian team that won the (soccer) World Cup in 2006,” Cobolli said.

“Our brilliant supporters are also part of this team. I’ve been rehearsing for three days but this is the happiest day of my life.”

Berrettini, who previously extended his Davis Cup singles winning streak to 11 matches with a strong performance against Carreno Busta, has been there for Cobolli since their first meeting when he was 14 and Flavio eight.

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When Cobolli was struggling to regain his form earlier this season, Berrettini advised him against competing in lower-level challenger tournaments and instead advised him to return to a training block to regain his form.

“I just told him: ‘Don’t worry, my child,'” Berrettini said in an interview with the International Tennis Federation.

Cobolli then won his next ATP tournament in Hamburg.

“It’s really crazy that we’re on the same team now. It gives me chills to think about that relationship over the years,” Berrettini said.

Berrettini lost his voice while cheering on Cobolli in Friday’s dramatic semi-final against Belgium, and supported his childhood friend until Sunday after getting the team off to a winning start.

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“All the guys on the team are special to me,” Cobolli added.

“But Matteo is special to me because he is like a brother. He is very important to me.

“He helped me a lot during the match, as did the brotherhood.”