Australia Davis Cup Dreams Dashed
Sunday in Brussels saw Australia’s dreams of playing in the first Davis Cup Final in 14 years come to a final and premature halt. Belgium came unexpectedly from behind, clearing a deficit and smashing Australia’s hopes of finally bridging the divide. Australia had been positive at the beginning of the night, needing only one rubber win out of two played in order to advance to the long awaited finals. But it was not meant to be.
Friday night’s two singles rubbers saw Johan Milman putting up a valiant but ultimately losing fight against David Goffin in all of four sets. Nick Kyrgios had his A-game on, beating Belgium’s Steve Darcis in an overpowering fashion in five sets. The battle lasted three and a half hours with World Number 20 Nick Kyrgios finally wearing the Darcis down to a 6-3, 3-6, 6-7, 6-1, 6-2 smashing.
Australia not only dominated the singles on Friday night, but the doubles on Sunday morning too, with Jordan Thompson and John Peers defeating Arthur De Greef and Ruben Bemelmans in straight sets.
This left Australia on the verge of breaking through the finals barrier for the first time since 2003. Who will ever forget the taste of sweet victory when Mark Philippoussis smashed Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero in Melbourne, securing Australia their 28th Davis Cup title.
Sunday evening however, saw the tide turn in an unfortunate direction.
Better Luck Next Year
It wasn’t a losing battle from the start, with Nick Kyrgious having started out quite electrifyingly against David Goffin – not having faced a single break point. A break to the Belgian to start the second set, however, seemed to set the tone for the remainder of the match. Goffin – quarterfinals finalist at the Australian Open this year – took full advantage of the situation, beating the Australian and taking the match in four sets.
It was all up to Jordan Thompson to try and salvage what was left of Australia’s finals hopes, but it all came to nought as the Australian went down in straight sets at the hands of World Number 77 Steve Darcis.
Next Stop: France
The victorious Belgians will now make their way to France for the Davis Cup final in November. The man responsible for catapulting the French into the final is no other than Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. France managed a semi-final win over Serbia – with many citing the absence of Novak Djokovic being the fateful decider.
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