Historic third title cements Italy as Davis Cup dynasty
Let the record books show that Italy defeated Spain 2-0 in the 2025 Davis Cup Final.
But if you only skim the scoreline, you’ll miss the drama, the sweat, and the seismic joy that erupted inside the SuperTennis Arena. Because this victory was an absolute coronation.
With the great Jannik Sinner watching from afar, opting to prep for next season rather than suit up, Italy proved its crown didn’t hinge on its brightest star. Nor did Lorenzo Musetti, another top-10 talent, make an appearance.
Instead, Italy lifted its third straight Davis Cup trophy on the backs of grit, depth, and one unforgettable performance from Flavio Cobolli.
Matteo Berrettini set the tone, as he has so often in team colors. Calm and clinical, he dispatched Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3, 6-4 without facing a break point.
It was his 11th straight Davis Cup victory and arguably the cleanest of the run. His 13 aces and relentless first-strike tennis made him look every bit the seasoned stalwart, a man reborn when draped in the blue of Italy.
But it was Cobolli, once again, who sent the crowd into a frenzy.
The 23-year-old, fresh off a shirt-shredding, match-point-saving epic in the semis, seemed determined to top himself. And he just about did. After a disastrous start against Jaume Munar, where he dropped the first set 1-6 and was broken to open the second, Cobolli clawed his way back.
“I was a little bit nervous, I was shaking a little bit with my hit,” Cobolli admitted afterward. “Jaume played so good.”
Indeed, Munar came out firing. He attacked Cobolli’s second serve, ripped backhands down the line, and even landed a backwards lob en route to an early lead. But then came the blink. A double fault at game point early in the second set. A crack in the Spanish armor. Cobolli pounced.
From there, the momentum tilted.
Cobolli saved his best for the biggest moments. A darting pass here, a smash there, and then a sequence of inside-out forehands that could make a statue flinch.
The second set tiebreak was a masterpiece of lung-burning rallies. And when Munar finally cracked at 5-5 in the third, Cobolli capitalized with another forehand bomb and closed it out at love.
“It’s impossible to describe this feeling. I dreamed a lot for this night. I played an amazing match,” Cobolli said. “At the end I looked a little bit at my bench, I found something in my body, in my heart. I gave everything for this team. We cannot lose for our country. Sometimes you learn, but you can never lose if you give it all, what you have in your heart.”
It was the stuff of Davis Cup legend, on home soil no less. Italy’s fourth Davis Cup crown — their first at home — was a statement of national tennis supremacy. Only the U.S. in the late ’60s and early ’70s had won three in a row before. Now, Italy joins that exclusive club.
Spain, missing Carlos Alcaraz, fought valiantly, but the final belonged to the hosts. And in the truest Davis Cup tradition, a new hero emerged from the ranks. Cobolli might not yet be a household name, but this week in Bologna, he was nothing short of a gladiator.
