BOLOGNA: Hosts Italy closed in on a third successive Davis Cup title as Flavio Cobolli saved seven match points to beat Belgium’s Zizou Bergs in a thriller and seal a 2-0 semi-final victory on Friday.

The 23-year-old Cobolli, roared on by frenzied home support inside the SuperTennis Arena, clawed his way to a 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (17/15) victory with the third-set tiebreak one of the best ever seen in the competition’s rich history.

Both players produced some spellbinding tennis in a series of punishing rallies in the 32-point breaker with the aggressive ball striking of Bergs looking as though it would send the tie to the deciding doubles.

But Cobolli, who also failed to convert his first six match points, would not be denied and eventually fired down an unreturnable serve to spark wild celebrations in the stands.

“In the five years I’ve been captain, I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Italy captain Filippo Volandri. “This match was incredible; in the end, it was 5 per cent tactics and 95 per cent heart.”

Earlier, Matteo Berrettini powered past Raphael Collignon 6-3, 6-4 to put Italy in front. It was Berrettini’s eighth successive match win in the competition after he won all six he played last year, including doubles, as Italy retained the title by beating the Netherlands in the final.

Italy will try to complete the three-peat in Sunday’s final against either Germany or Spain. Should they prevail, they would become the first nation to win three successive titles since the Challenge Round was abolished after the 1971 event.

Cobolli, who was a regular in the 2023 title-winning side, is playing as Italy’s number one in the absence of world number two Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti and has risen to the challenge in magnificent fashion.

After thrashing Filip Misolic on Wednesday to seal Italy’s comfortable quarter-final win over Austria he was pushed much harder by the 43rd-ranked Bergs who battled back from a slow start to stretch Cobolli to the limit.

“It’s really tough to say something about this match,” Cobolli said. “I played for all of my team, my family, and it’s one of the best days of my life.”

The match took just over three hours as the 23-year-old Cobolli only broke serve once, in the first set Neither player conceded a break point in the second set, which Bergs clinched in a tie-break.

Growing increasingly aggressive, the Belgian earned three break points early in the third set and a fourth at 4-4.

But Cobolli responded each time with a supersonic first serves to clear the danger, then earned two match points in the following game.

The Belgian right-hander saved himself with two aces but then failed to convert his fifth break point at 5-5, forcing another tiebreak.

In the nail-biting tiebreak Cobolli saved seven match points before winning with a final ace.

Italy, who are on a 12-tie winning streak, are the first nation to reach three successive Davis Cup finals since Australia in 2001, although Australia lost two of those.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2025