Belgium failed to survive the group stage in the Davis Cup final. After Tuesday’s loss to Australia, hosts Germany were the better of the day with a 2-1 score. Zizou Berg narrowly lost his ankle and David Goffin saved match balls, but made the double more important. In the decisive tiebreak, Sander Gillet and Goran Flegen gave up a big lead. Australia and Germany qualified for the eighth final.
Bergs narrowly loses the Struve opener
Zizou Berggs opened the match, just as against Australia. After more than 2 hours and 7 minutes of fighting, the 134th narrowly bowed to 132, but is the 33rd all-time in the world.
However, Bergs had his chances, especially in the racy second set. Our compatriot left 7 points set, the German silver ball the third game. Germany needed one more point to qualify for the eighth final.
A frustrated Goffin turns the tide after 2 match balls
David Goffin (ATP-62) had a tough time against Oscar Otte (ATP-52). He opened with a break, but became desperate and frustrated that he wasn’t up to his usual level. Ooty also often had the network band in his favour.
In the second set, Goffin angrily threw his racket to the ground. That was the beginning of the transformation. The experienced Belgian player began to play better, in the tiebreak he received 2 balls of the match.
He got lucky the first time: a ball on the net still fell inside, and with the second Otti thought his ball had gone out and stopped running.
Goffin won the tiebreak 9/7, finally broke the tie 2-2 in the third set and won the match after another break: 6-3.
“This was another epic Davis Cup match,” Goffin said. “When you’re so close to elimination, under the pressure of losing, you still find the energy somewhere to get rid of match points, win the second set and play better in the third.”
He thanked the Belgian fans: “Thank you, we are still in competition. We will do everything we can to win the double.”
A double fault occurs in the dramatic tiebreak
Joran Flegen (double ATP-90) and Sander Gillet (double ATP-78) took the win and managed to keep Belgium in contention for the top two places (and qualify for the eighth final).
They forced a quick break in the first set against German tandem Kevin Krawetz (ATP-29 double) and Tim Putz (ATP-8 double). Altaïr finished the set with an ace: 6-4.
Supported by the local fans (which did not show up in large numbers), the Germans came out 3-0 in the second set. The Belgians missed chances at the break point: 2-6.
In the third set, the Belgians again participated well and went fairly smoothly into the tiebreak. They were leading 5-2 and it looked like the win was in, but suddenly the machine stopped. The Germans won by seven consecutive points, and Fliegen missed the chance to get the match ball with a score of 5-5.
With two defeats (3-0 against Australia and 2-1 against Germany), the next round is no longer possible for our country. On Saturday they will continue to play against France, who have also been eliminated.
16 teams participate in the final stage of the Davis Cup. Group matches are scheduled to run from Tuesday to Sunday in Hamburg, Glasgow, Bologna and Valencia. The top two from each group will compete for the overall victory in Malaga from November 22-27.
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