“At the end, I looked at my bench and found something in my heart.”
For Flavio Cobolli, the faces cheering for him from the sidelines provided the extra impetus he needed as he fought to realise his dream of becoming a world champion.
The 23-year-old secured a historic third successive Davis Cup title for Italy by battling back from a set and a break down against Spain’s Jaume Munar to seal a 2-0 triumph in front of an jubilant home crowd in Bologna.
Cobolli’s gritty 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 victory, achieved two days after he confirmed Italy’s place in Sunday’s showpiece by winning an epic 32-point tie-break, followed Matteo Berrettini’s 6-3 6-4 win over Pablo Carreno Busta.
It was an Italian double act long in the making.
Berrettini worked with Cobolli’s father, former player Stefano, as a youngster. He would often be called upon to babysit Cobolli – six years his junior – and kept him occupied by playing tennis with him.
A video shared on social media by Italian outlet Spazio Tennis, external shows Berrettini towering above Cobolli as they walk off a tennis court after practising together in 2011.
Fourteen years later, Cobolli and the team-mate he describes as being “like a brother” to me were walking off the court in Italy as Davis Cup champions, having gone unbeaten in singles in the tournament.
“It’s impossible to describe this feeling. I dreamed a lot for this night,” Cobolli said.
“We cannot 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 am a world champion.”
