Davis Cup Italy beats Spain to win third title in a row

(Bologna) The hat-trick at home: Italy made up for the absence of its stars Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti by winning a third Davis Cup in a row against Spain on Sunday in Bologna.

Flavio Cobolli (22^e world) brought the decisive point to the transalpine selection by beating 1-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 the Spaniard Jaume Munar (36^e), a few hours after the 6-3, 6-4 victory of Matteo Berrettini (56^e) against Pablo Carreno (89^e).

“I don’t even know where I am anymore,” commented the winner a few moments after kissing the court.

“The only thing I know is that I am world champion,” exulted Cobolli, happily hugged by his teammates and his captain Filippo Volandri as soon as he won the match point.

“It was a team effort,” said Matteo Berrettini at a press conference.

From the sidelines, the Italian team cheered Cobolli “as hard as (they) could.” I think it’s our strength, our weapon: we play every match with five players, even with six players with the captain,” explained the man who won his three singles matches this week.

Winner of the Billie-Jean-King Cup in September for the second year in a row, Italy reigns supreme over the two main team competitions in world tennis.

Already victorious 2-0 over Austria on Wednesday in the quarter-final, and Belgium by the same score on Friday in the semi-final, the host selection did not lose a single match during the final phase, played for the first time on home soil after several editions in Malaga (Spain).

In other words, three of the five members of the Italian team (Lorenzo Sonego, Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori) did not need to step onto the court in Bologna to lift the Silver Salad Bowl.

But Cobolli had to fight for almost three hours to score the second point synonymous with victory.

“In the first round, I was a little nervous,” Cobolli admitted to his captain, whose eyes were cloudy with the emotion of a victory in front of the fans.

“But later, I found the resources deep within me,” he said.

No country has won the Silver Salad Bowl three years in a row since the United States, winners of five consecutive editions between 1968 and 1972.

“Very Happy New Year” for Spain

If the Italians are still far from the 32 American Davis Cup titles, they won their fourth coronation in the competition on Sunday, after those of 1976, 2023 and 2024.

A success all the more notable as it was achieved without world No.2 Jannik Sinner, keen to have as much time as possible to prepare for the 2026 season.

The other Italian member of the top 10, number 8^e world champion Lorenzo Musetti, had also withdrawn, citing his “physical condition” and the imminent arrival of his second child.

“I don’t want to talk about those who are not here” evacuated Filippo Volandri. “We might as well have the world No.1, what makes the difference in the end? It’s the link between the players. We have a great bond, great players,” insisted the Italian captain.

Despite the absence of the two Italian stars, “more than 62,000 spectators” (out of a maximum capacity of around 70,000 places over the week) attended the final phase on site, the organizers told AFP, specifying that this was a provisional estimate.

The Spanish camp was also weakened in the absence of world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz, injured in the right leg, and 14^e Alejandro Davidovich, not selected by captain David Ferrer.

The latter preferred to remember the “experience” accumulated by his players in Bologna rather than the defeat.

“Congratulations to the whole team,” Rafael Nadal wrote on X. “Impressive week in the Davis Cup. »

“From my point of view, it was a very good year in the Davis Cup,” added Ferrer.

“After the defeat, I told them [aux joueurs espagnols, NDLR] that they should be proud. Now it’s time to rest,” concluded Ferrer.

The final phase of the Davis Cup was in fact the last meeting of the year 2025, before the start of the 2026 season on January 2 in Australia.