BOLOGNA, Italy – Two-time defending champion Italy reached the Davis Cup final after Flavio Cobolli defeated Belgium’s Zizou Bergs 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (15) after saving seven match points in a dramatic semi-final on Friday.
After wasting six match points himself, Cobolli finally got Italy over the line. He ripped off his shirt and celebrated with his teammates, eventually going to comfort Bergs, who was comforted by his team as he cried in his seat.
The final set tiebreak of 17-15 was the sixth longest in Davis Cup history.
“We fought for our country, for this victory, but in the end I realized my dream,” Cobolli said. “I played in front of my whole team and my family, and it’s one of the best days of my life.”
Cobolli gave Italy an unassailable 2-0 lead without the need for the doubles.
Italy is on a thirteen-match winning streak and will meet the winner of Saturday’s semi-final between Germany and Spain, the injured number 1 Carlos Alcaraz.
Earlier, Matteo Berrettini defeated Raphael Collignon 6-3, 6-4 to help Italy get started.
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.
From 3-3 in the second set tiebreak, Bergs found his range and leveled the match with a forehand to the back of the court, after which Cobolli returned long.
The players then traded and missed match point opportunities, with Cobolli ultimately triumphing with a service winner that Bergs could only just get his racket on.
Cobolli jumped into the arms of team captain Filippo Volandri, who somehow managed to remain calm during the rollercoaster tiebreak.
“In the five years I’ve been captain, I’ve never seen anything like this. But this is what the Davis Cup does, it was incredible,” Volandri said. “At the end I told (Cobolli) that it is 5 percent tactics and 95 percent heart.”
It was a more comfortable match for Berrettini, who finished second at Wimbledon in 2021 with 10 singles titles on the tour.
He took the first set on serve against No. 86 Collignon.
Collignon dropped his opening serve of the second set, but he broke back for 2-2. Berrettini withstood aggressive shots and broke for 4-3, winning on his first match point with a love hold.
The Davis Cup Final 8 is the sixth edition of the renewed event in which the champion decides on a neutral site.
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