Davis Cup, an immense Cobolli takes Italy into the final

He ripped off his shirt and remained bare-breasted in front of a frenzied crowd: an immense Flavio Cobolli defeated Zizou Bergs 6-3, 6-7, 7-6 and gave Italy - with the 2-0 win over Belgium - its place in the Davis Cup final, scheduled for Sunday (tomorrow, Saturday 22nd, the other semi-final between Spain and Germany is scheduled). A success that comes after more than three hours of play, a tiebreak of the third set that will go down in history (finished 17-15) and a seesaw of unforgettable emotions. It was a victory that was the result of a leader's skill, of the accelerations that we now know, and of grit in delicate moments.

After a first set conducted with authority and brought home by the Italian thanks to the break at 2-1, a drawn-out, head-to-head partial began. It came down to the tiebreak with Flavio, who started 2-0 down, rebalanced the situation by making it 2-2, and did not tremble on a forehand volley he had missed just before. But when it turned to 3-all, Bergs put on the fifth gear and with a minibreak closed the score 7-5.

The third set was even tougher, with Bergs now confident and less foul, while Flavio struggled to hold his games. He resisted the onslaught of the Belgian, who procured three very dangerous break points on 1-all and an even more venomous one on 4-all. The Italian then gave it his all on 5-4, winning two match points that he was unable to transform due to two heavy first balls from his opponent. He still suffered, with a chance for Bergs to go 6-5 with serve in his favour, which he failed to exploit with a ball sent into the corridor. It's still tiebreak, but it turns out to be an indescribable fight. And this time it was Bergs who had seven match points and failed to convert them. The match was tied at 10-all, and then at 11-10, Flavio's match point (he had also had one earlier in this tiebreak), when he threw his racket to the ground for a backhand into the net. The match was tied at 15-15 with the match point count already lost, and then on 16-15 came Flavio's golden ball, which brought down the hall with a great first serve. And it's 17-15! While the joy of the Roman, celebrating with the team, explodes uncontrollably, Bergs is slumped in tears, his head in the towel, consoled by his own, the fans behind mute. Cobolli goes to hug him. The Davis Cup is also this.

The first point: a great Matthew

Matteo Berrettini brought Italy its first point in the Davis Cup semifinal against Belgium in Bologna. It ended 6-3, 6-4 over Raphael Collignon (world number 86), in just under an hour and a half. The first set went off without a hitch, with the Italian taking a break in the second game and a set-point (missed) at 5-2, against an opponent succumbing under the pressure of Matteo's forehand and serves. The second game seemed to follow the same script (with the Italian immediately ahead 2-0), but then Collignon had a burst of pride, drawing level (2-2) and even procuring himself a 4-2 point. Matteo seemed to risk a dangerous drop, but instead he saved that break point and extended his lead to 5-3. He then closed 6-4 on his serve with some great forehands and finishing the game with zero. Collignon, let's remember, in spite of his modest ranking, is capable of unexpected exploits in Davis: he had won with Alex De Minaur in the round Belgium beat Australia.