Collignon the hero as Belgium halt Australia's comeback to reach Davis Cup Finals
- Kiran Gupta
- 17 hours ago
- 5 min read
Raphael Collignon has proven to be the hero with a fighting win over Aleksandar Vukic after Australia mounted a strong comeback to force a deciding rubber in a tense Davis Cup qualifier.
Captain Lleyton Hewitt began the day with a surprise, substituting Jordan Thompson alongside Rinky Hijikata. The two combined well; however, their opponents, doubles specialists Joran Vliegen and Sander Gille, saved four set points trailing 2-6 in the tiebreak to take a one-set lead.
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Vliegen was comfortably the best player on court for the first half of the match and looked to have sealed the tie for his nation when he set up a comfortable forehand on a break point midway through the second set. However, he missed the ball and the Australians then broke in the following game and from then on, were in control as the level of the Belgians dropped slightly with Gille still recovering from an injury which kept him out for two months.
"[The game at 3-3] it turned there. It just gave us a little bit of doubt," Gille confessed.
"It's my first match in two months, so it was a bit tough for me to be honest. I think that if I had been playing the last few weeks, it could have given me the little extra that was missing."
For Thompson, it was a surprise to be drafted in for the doubles as he hadn't done any doubles practice during the week, but Belgian captain Steve Darcis was not surprised with the decision to drop doubles veteran John Peers.
"If I was the captain from Australia, I think I would do the same, so I think it was a great choice," he said.
Alex De Minaur then came out strong against Zizou Bergs, playing a flawless first set, after which Bergs remarked to Darcis that the Aussie was just playing "too good".
Bergs fought back in the second set, breaking twice, but ultimately, de Minaur was too strong, harnessing the passionate crowd to send the match into a decider.
"[Yesterday] really hit me hard, but to be able to bounce back today, I'm very proud of the attitude and the mindset and just to give ourselves a chance. That's all that we can do," the world No.8 said.
Hewitt then subbed in Vukic for the final match against Collignon, and the match was nervy, with both players hitting several unforced errors at the start of the match.
While Vukic edged the first set tiebreak, Collignon was in control for the rest of the match, sealing a famous win for Belgium.
"I'm really proud," said captain Darcis. "We came here really motivated, but without any expectation, because we were playing a great team in front of us with great players, and I know my team would be ready to fight all weekend, and it's amazing what they did."
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Asked whether Collignon would take his moniker of Mr Davis Cup after the weekend, Darcis joked that he still had a long way to go.
"Of course, I am proud of him because he was great this weekend, but to be Mr Davis Cup, I will need a little more from him."
While Darcis was not surprised that Vukic played the final singles, Hewitt explained that because he played Thompson in the doubles, he had little choice but to bring in Vukic for the deciding match.
"We had to win the doubles, so that was the starting point. In this format, it is pretty hard to back up to play another singles. Today was going to be tough if I asked Thommo to do that. And Aleks has been hitting the ball great all week in practice," Hewitt explained.
With Alexei Popyrin's absence from the tie this weekend being felt by the Australian team, Hewitt said that he hoped the Sydneysider would make himself available for future ties.
"When I landed back [in Australia] to start in the camp, I pretty much knew that he wasn't going to be available to play," he said. "Obviously, I hope Alexei makes himself available for future ties."
Hewitt also hinted that a change of surface might be something that the team would consider for future ties.
"It's something we certainly look at. I think this particular tie was always going to be tough, trying to play on a different surface coming off the US Open as well. And all things considered, my players were probably going to go deeper in the US Open than the Belgians as well, which was going to give them any kind of advantage of playing on a different surface.
"So there's a lot of things that go into decisions like that, but normally we're not just picking a surface just for one player; it's got to suit the whole team as well."
For both teams, the passion for Davis Cup was clear all week. Darcis, in particular, was incredibly forthcoming about how much it meant to him.
"I was not happy about the move [to a group format] a few years ago, but now that they put home and away ties back, I think it's nice for the country, for the players to play in front of the home crowd. There were 10,000 people here, and it's amazing because two, three years ago [in the neutral format], there were 100 people in the stadium," he said.
"It's amazing and I love to be here because when you play here, you have so many people, a very good atmosphere and the guys want to play in a big stadium. I think it's good for tennis."
"It's a dream come true, so every chance I get, I'll be there and fight for the colours," added Vliegen. "You see the crowd this weekend. It's been amazing, great venue, a lot of people showing up, that's what Davis Cup was all about, what the home and away ties, and I think we haven't been able to experience that in the last couple of years. I think this is a step in a good direction."
As for celebrations, the team was clear that nothing would stop them from having a big night.
"I know in Australia they close very early, so we will have to go very soon," said Darcis.
"We will find a club," added Bergs.
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