Why controversial qualifier moment between Belgium and Chile saw Davis Cup draw postponed amid protests
Published 21/02/2025 at 18:07 GMT
The Davis Cup World Group I draw was due to take place on Thursday 20 February, but it has had to be postponed until March due to an ongoing protest involving Chile and Belgium. Those two countries faced off in the qualifiers earlier in February, with Belgium progressing 3-1 after the singles match between Zizou Bergs and Cristian Garin ended in unfortunate circumstances.
Chilean Cristian Garin and is pictured during a game between Belgian Bergs and Chilean Garin
Image credit: Getty Images
Belgium’s qualifying tie with Chile in the Davis Cup ended in bizarre circumstances earlier this month after Zizou Bergs and Cristian Garin came together at the net, with the Chilean being knocked off his feet as a result of the contact.
The end result was a victory for Bergs, which gave Belgium an unassailable 3-1 lead in the tie, with the final singles rubber not played. But Chile subsequently protested the result - and that has caused the draw for the Davis Cup World Group I to be postponed.
But what happened on the court between the two players?
Belgium were leading the tie 2-1 on home soil, with Bergs and Garin having both won their singles rubbers before Belgium took the doubles.
Bergs had just held serve for what looked to be a decisive 6-5 lead in the third and final set, and the Belgian started to celebrate wildly in front of his home fans.
He bounded towards his chair for the change of ends with his arms aloft, but as Garin came to round the net, Bergs jumped into him, catching Garin’s face with his shoulder and knocking his opponent to the floor.
Bergs did immediately stoop to check Garin was okay, and was given a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct - but then the situation rapidly unravelled.
Garin received medical attention - but his team protested that he was not fit to continue due to an eye injury and that Bergs should be disqualified. Instead, an independent doctor cleared Garin to play on.
When the Chilean refused to do so, he was handed three time violations, which resulted in a game violation - handing Bergs a 6-3 4-6 7-5 victory.
But the Chilean Tennis Federation was swift to protest the result - citing that the ITF regulations "establish" disqualification in cases of physical abuse.
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And it is that protest which has now delayed the draw for the Davis Cup, where Chile were waiting to see who they would face in a play-off to stay in the top tier of the competition.
There have been many instances of a player being defaulted or disqualified from a match for causing an injury - such as when David Nalbandian kicked an advertising board near a line umpire at Queen’s in 2012 which injured the gentleman’s leg, or Novak Djokovic hitting a line judge with a ball in the US Open in 2020.
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Cristian Garin of Chile
Image credit: Getty Images
Denis Shapovalov was also defaulted for hitting a chair umpire with a ball in a Davis Cup match against Great Britain back in 2017.
But the players injuring each other - bar accidentally with the ball in play - is less common, as is physical contact at the change of ends.
As it stands, Belgium are slated to play Australia in the second round of the competition, which takes place in September later this year.
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