By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday February 2, 2025
A thrilling Davis cup tie between Belgium and Chile dissolved into controversy on Sunday.
Things got out of hand late in the third set as Belgian’s Zizou Bergs recklessly ran into Cristian Garin as the pair crossed the net on their way to their respective benches during a changeover. The Belgian was energized after breaking serve, and was about to serve for the match.
As it turns out, Bergs was a bit too energized. He jumped in the air as he crossed into the narrow space between the umpire’s chair and the net, and his shoulder made contact with Garin’s face, sending the Chilean tumbling to the court.
What happened next was unfortunate as well. A trainer looked at Garin and deemed he was fit to continue, but the Chilean refused, and instead pleaded for Bergs to be defaulted for what he had done.
After three code violations were handed out to Garin he the Chilean disqualified from the match without playing another point. That sent Belgium through to September‘s World Group qualifying matches.
Belgium wins 3-1 on the strength of a doubles victory that preceded Sunday’s controversial singles conclusion.
“It’s truly unintentional,” Bergs said after the incident, according to daviscup.com. “Out of excitement at the break, I jumped in the air and I wanted to go fast to the bench, but I made a completely wrong decision to not wait for the opponent to pass.
“When I saw that he didn’t wait, I wanted to go to the side, but eventually I still hit him with my shoulder. Once again, it’s truly unintentional. I was checking on him, I said sorry to him, to the coach, to the team. It’s obviously not what you want, to hurt an opponent, and then it’s up to the umpires to decide what the decision is going to be.
“It feels really bad to end this way. When the match was done, I said to Massu my apologies, because we respect him.”
“It’s a really difficult situation,” Chilean captain Nicolas Massu said after his team’s defeat. “Terrible for me, for the country, because we’re here to play tennis, to defend our country. Garin was the player who was hit in the eye, who couldn’t continue and now we’re out.”
Later Garin spoke in a press conference and told reporters that he was not well enough to finish the match after the incident. He also took to social media to post his feelings.
An ITF Spokesperson called the incident “rare and unfortunate:”
“It was a very delicate situation and everyone involved, including the independent doctor, who conducted due diligence based on rules and procedures. We understand the emotions attached to this unusual incident, but the final decision was made after consideration of all the facts and unique circumstances around it."
As a result of the win, Belgium is now through to the second round of Qualifiers, where they will take on Australia in a tie to be played in Australia.
Scores from World Group Qualifying:
Agentina 3, Norway 2
Australia 3, Sweden 1
Belgium 3, Chile 1
Hungary 3, Canada 2
Austria 4, Finland 0
Germany 3, Israel 1
Japan 3, Great Britain 2
USA 4, Taiwan 0
Czechia 4, Korea 0
Denmark 3, Serbia 2
Spain 3, Switzerland 1
Croatia 3, Slovakia 1
France 4, Brazil 0
The full draw for the second round of Davis Cup qualifying is set for September, after a busy weekend of tennis across the globe:
Netherlands (home) v Argentina
Australia (home) v Belgium
Hungary (home) v Austria
Japan (home)* v Germany
USA (home) v Czechia
Spain (home) v Denmark
Croatia (home) v France