The Belgians' home tie in Hasselt came to an unfortunate conclusion on Sunday when, with the hosts leading 2-1, Zizou Bergs accidentally knocked over and injured his Chilean opponent Cristian Garin while celebrating a key break of serve to go 6-5 ahead in the deciding set.
Bergs sprinted wildly towards the Belgian bench at the changeover, as he looked forward to serving for the match, but, looking towards his celebrating bench, he floored Garin, catching him in the eye with his shoulder as they both passed through the narrow space between the net and the umpire's chair at the same time.
Zizou Bergs makes a HUGE shot to break serve... but accidently collides with Cristian Garin in celebration 😮 — Davis Cup (@DavisCup) pic.twitter.com/6H2RqRmx4mFebruary 2, 2025
Bergs looked shocked and immediately apologised, but the dazed Garin needed medical treatment to his swollen eye and then refused to continue, with the Chilean camp calling for Bergs to be disqualified.
But instead, though Bergs was given a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct, it was Garin who was penalised with three consecutive time violations for not restarting, which led to a game penalty and Chile losing the set, the match - 6-3 4-6 7-5 - and the tie 3-1.
Garin, who was reported afterwards by Chile's team doctor Alejandro Orizola to have been "in no condition" to continue, reportedly complained to experienced Portuguese umpire Carlos Ramos: "If you are not going to default him, default me! You don't have the guts to do it to me!"
The Chilean team were left raging, railing at their opponents' bench as tensions heightened.
Belgium's Zizou Bergs wins his singles match against Chile's Cristian Garin, who didn't return to court after an accidental collision at the change of ends.— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) A collision between the two players stopped the match, as Garin received medical attention. Play was then scheduled to… pic.twitter.com/pcW00Y35bSFebruary 2, 2025
It may well be that there will be more repercussions about the incident because if Bergs had been disqualified, as the Chileans wanted, the tie would have come down to a decider featuring their star man Nicolas Jarry against Belgian teenager Alexander Blockx.
Instead, it's the Belgians who will travel to Australia in September where Lleyton Hewitt's team, who had beaten Sweden 3-1 in Stockholm the previous day, will play their first home tie in the 'World Cup of men's tennis' for three years.
UNBELIEVABLE scenes in this BEL-CHI tie.— José Morgado (@josemorgado) Bergs breaks at 5-5 in the 3rd but hits Garin while celebrating. Chileans wanted a default, umpires disagreed, Garin (eye swollen) refuses to keep playing and gets a game penalty to lose the match (and tie) pic.twitter.com/LOLWijm0AgFebruary 2, 2025
The Australians, fired by world No.8 Alex de Minaur, will be overwhelming favourites for victory in a second qualifying round tie against a team powered by Bergs, the world No.60, and 19-year-old prospect Blockx, who's No.146.
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