Davis Cup MADNESS sees 13 match points saved as Italy progress to the final

Flavio Cobolli rips off his shirt in celebration following a remarkable victory. (Getty/Photo Agency)

In one of the best Davis Cup matches in history, Flavio Cobolli saved seven match points while converting his seventh in front of a raucous home crowd to send Italy through to Sunday's decider.

The 23-year-old was up against Belgium's Zizou Bergs, after Matteo Berrettini put the Azzurri 1-0 up earlier in the day, thanks to a straight sets win over Raphael Collignon.

It looked like another routine victory for the Italians when Cobolli won the opener 6-3, but Bergs, to his credit, fought hard to clinch the second set tiebreak.

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Although Bergs was arguably the better player in set three, the world No.43 was forced to fend off two match points before holding serve for 5-5, as the match soon entered a tense tiebreak yet again.

This time, it was the Belgian No.1 who had two match points at 6-4, until they quickly vanished.

Remarkably, after saving seven match points, Cobolli was successful on his own seventh match point, which made history by winning the sixth-longest tiebreak in Davis Cup history (17-15).

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Less than 24 hours prior, German doubles pair Kevin Krawietz and Tim Püetz saved three match points to help their nation advance against Argentina.

Italy, who are current back-to-back champions after winning the event in 2023 and 2024, seek their third successive title as they await the winner of Spain and Germany.

The final will be contested in Bologna on Sunday 3pm local time (Monday 1am AEDT).

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