BOLOGNA, Italy — Italy remains the king of the Davis Cup — and didn’t even need Jannik Sinner this time.
Matteo Berrettini and Flavio Cobolli both won their singles matches to give the Italians an unassailable 2-0 lead over Spain in Sunday’s final.
It’s a fourth Davis Cup title for Italy and a third in a row. The last nation to win three straight titles was the United States, which won five in a row from 1968 to 1972.
The second-ranked Sinner, who led Italy to the biggest team trophy in men’s tennis the past two years, opted out of playing this week, preferring to prepare for next season instead.
Italy didn’t need him, winning all three of its matches 2-0 this week after eliminating Austria in the quarterfinals and Belgium in the semifinals.
In the final, Berrettini beat Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3, 6-4 before Cobolli fought back to beat Jaume Munar 1-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5.
Spain reached the title match for the first time since 2019 but was also without its star player, top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz.
