Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

Matteo Berrettini Strikes First and Flavio Cobolli Completes Chaos as Italy Blasts Belgium to Reach 2025 Davis Cup Final 8

Flavio Cobolli’s marathon victory caps Italy’s surge into the Davis Cup final.

Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

Italy moved to the brink of a third straight Davis Cup title after Matteo Berrettini and Flavio Cobolli powered the reigning champions past Belgium 2-0 in the 2025 Final 8 semifinals on Friday in Bologna. With a loud home crowd behind them, both players stepped into expanded roles and carried Italy into Sunday’s final.

A HOME FINAL IN BOLOGNA 🇮🇹🔥🇮🇹🔥

Italy are finalists once again! 😱#DavisCup pic.twitter.com/xiBo3aKpOb
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) November 21, 2025

A Marathon Tiebreak Pushes Italy Back Into the Title Match

Italy entered the tie without Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti, their two top-ranked players who opted out after the ATP Finals. That absence shifted responsibility squarely onto Berrettini and Cobolli, and both responded with performances that matched the noise inside the arena.

Berrettini opened the day by handling Raphael Collignon 6-3, 6-4, a steady win that set the foundation for what followed. The second match escalated into one of the most gripping contests of the 2025 season. Cobolli battled Zizou Bergs across three hours and four minutes, emerging 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-6(15) in a duel filled with momentum swings, seven saved match points, and a final-set tiebreak that stretched to 32 points. It finished as the sixth-longest tiebreak in Davis Cup history.

Guess who’s back… BACK AGAIN 😱

A hat trick of #DavisCup finals🔥 pic.twitter.com/rEPxkj0M1M
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) November 21, 2025

Cobolli was overwhelmed afterward. “It’s really tough to say something about this match… at the end, I realized my dream; we are in the final,” he said on the Davis Cup broadcast. “I played an amazing match against an amazing opponent. I played for my team, my family, for me… it’s one of the best days of my life.”

Flavio Cobolli and Zizou Bergs' final set tiebreak was the sixth longest tie break in the 125 year history of the #DavisCup 👀 pic.twitter.com/kBwcIt3r0B
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) November 21, 2025

Italian captain Filippo Volandri offered his own stunned reaction. “In my five years as a captain, I’ve never seen anything like that. But this is what Davis Cup does. It was incredible. At the end, I told [Flavio], it’s five percent tactic and 95 percent heart.” Italy now awaits the winner of Germany versus Spain for Sunday’s title match. With their depth tested, the champions return to the final carrying momentum, belief, and the full roar of Bologna behind them.

Mandatory Image Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

2025 Davis Cup Finals

Flavio Cobolli

Italy

Matteo Berrettini

Rudra Dubey

nfl

mma

I’m an academic turned sports writer from Raipur, India, specializing in the NFL, MMA, and tennis at The Playoffs. I previously wrote for Sportskeeda and hold a B.A. and M.A. in History. My journey into sports media began far from the field, rooted in the arts and sciences. Funny enough, I didn’t grow up a sports fan; I used to see it all as just noise. But a fateful writing job introduced me to the world of sports, and what began as a gig quickly became a passion. I understood those voices aren’t noise; they’re emotions of true sports fans, and now I am one of them, writing with the same energy I once questioned.