In an intense game, Italian tennis player Flavio Cobolli came on the winning side to take his team to the final of the Davis Cup as he has defeated Belgium’s Zizou Bergs in Bologna. Cobolli tore off his shirt in joy as he defeated the Belgian, and the crowd erupted. The 23-year-old in a more than three-hour marathon contest has taken the game to a seventh match [6-3 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (17-15)] and ended on the winning side. The tie-break is the sixth-longest in the history of the 125-year old competetion.
“It’s really tough to say something about this match. We played for our countries and fought a lot for this win. In the end, I realised my dream and we are now in the final. I played an amazing match against a great opponent. I played for all of [the supporters], for all of my team, my family, for me. It is one of the best days of my life,” Cobolli said.
Italy team captain Filippo Volandri said: “In my five years as captain I have never seen something like that. It was an unbelievable match. At the end I just said [it was] 5% tactics and 95% heart. This guy gave everything he had – I am really proud. We have an unbelievable bench, Matteo [Berrettini, Cobolli’s team-mate] lost his voice. But it is not the last match. We celebrate tonight and then we focus on the final.”
Cobolli gave Italy an unassailable 2-0 lead without needing the doubles contest. Italy is riding a 13-tie winning streak and meets the winner of Saturday’s semifinal between Germany and Spain, which is without injured No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz. Earlier, Matteo Berrettini beat Raphael Collignon 6-3, 6-4 to help Italy on its way. Neither Belgian has won a singles title on the men’s tour. But the No. 43-ranked Bergs played like it was the biggest match of his life against No. 22 Cobolli, who had the crowd behind him in Bologna.
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