Great achievement for Belgium at the Davis Cup
Belgium took victory over Australia after a tense match, qualifying for the final of the Davis Cup tennis tournament, to be fought between the world's top eight tennis nations.
The showdown against Australia got off to a very good start, with Raphaël Collignon, who had just made it back into the world's top 100, beating Alex De Minaur (ATP 8) 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 on the first day. A great achievement for the player from Liège, who had already won fame after defeating Casper Ruud (ATP 12) in this year's US Open. Then, Zizou Bergs (ATP 46), Belgium's number one player, took down Jordan Thompson (ATP 77), winning 7-6, 6-4 to extend Belgium's lead.
Leading 2-0, a single victory was enough for the team, led by Steve Darcis, to make it through to the final 8. But the win didn't come from the Belgian pair of Sander Gillé and Joran Vliegen, who were narrowly beaten 6-7 (7/9), 6-3, 6-4 in the doubles, nor from Zizou Bergs, who lost 6-2, 7-5 to the Australian number one.
The last, decisive singles match pitted Raphaël Collignon (ATP 91) against Aleksandar Vukic (ATP 95). And at the end of a very close match, after winning 6-7 (5/7), 6-2, 6-3, the 23-year-old Belgian celebrated by raising his arms in front of the Australian crowd in the Sydney stadium.
As a result, Belgium has succeeded in qualifying for the "Final 8", the last round of the Davis Cup. No Belgian has taken part in a finals tournament since 2019, when the competition was still contested by 18 teams under the old format.
Belgium's best tennis players will be fighting it out in Bologna, Italy, from 18 to 23 November.