LONDON: Great Britain and Belgium secured shock places in November’s Davis Cup final on Sunday.

Britain made their first final since 1978 with victory over Australia in Glasgow thanks to world number three Andy Murray’s 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 win over Bernard Tomic in the first reverse singles.

With two-time Grand Slam winner Murray in their ranks they will start as favourites to win a first Davis Cup since 1936 when they go to Belgium for the November 27-29 final.

Belgium reached their first title match since 1904 with a tense 3-2 win over Argentina in Brussels with Steve Darcis, the world number 64, needing a fourth match point to defeat Federico Delbonis 6-4, 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3).

When Belgium last made the final in 1904 their opponents were also Britain who swept to a 5-0 triumph.

The 28-year-old Murray celebrated his 25th win from 27 Davis Cup singles matches as Britain secured a first victory over old rivals Australia since 1978.

Nine-time winners Britain last won the Davis Cup in 1936 when Fred Perry and Bunny Austin sealed a 3-2 victory over Australia at Wimbledon.

“Winning for your country and your team-mates means a lot,” Murray, who with his brother Jamie claimed a tense four-hour doubles rubber against Australian pair Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4 on Saturday to give Britain a 2-1 lead, told the BBC.

“The crowd were unbelievable from the first ball to the last. I didn’t feel great the whole weekend to be honest, I’ve been struggling with my back, but I just tried to disguise it.”

It is a remarkable turnaround for a British team that have risen from being on the verge of relegation to Europe/Africa Group III in 2010 to being finalists in 2015.

In Brussels, world number 15 David Goffin kept Belgium afloat against Argentina with a routine 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 win over Diego Schwartzman to level their semi-final at 2-2.

Darcis, 31, then sealed victory for a Belgian side which had knocked out defending champions Switzerland in the first round.

“It’s one of the biggest moments of my career. The atmosphere was unbelievable. Inside it was so hard to stay calm,” said Darcis who famously dumped Rafael Nadal out of Wimbledon in 2013.

Argentina went into the final day with a 2-1 lead after Leonardo Mayer and Carlos Berlocq beat Darcis and Ruben Bemelmans 6-2, 7-6 (7-2), 5-7, 7-6 (7-5) in a four hour marathon on Saturday.

FEDERER KEEPS SWISS IN WORLD GROUP

In World Group playoffs to determine which countries stay in the 16-country elite group, Roger Federer defeated Thiemo de Bakker 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 as Switzerland wrapped up victory over the Netherlands in Geneva.

The 17-times Grand Slam champion, beaten by Novak Djokovic in the US Open final a week ago, recovered after losing Saturday’s doubles with Marco Chiudinelli to give the Swiss a decisive 3-1 lead and secure their World Group spot.

De Bakker and Matwe Middelkoop had stunned Federer and Chiudinelli 7-6 (9-7), 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 on Saturday to keep the Netherlands in the tie after they lost both of Friday’s opening singles.

Switzerland, winners last year, were beaten by Belgium in the opening round in March when neither Federer nor Stan Wawrinka lined up for the Swiss.

In Tashkent, Jack Sock defeated Denis Istomin 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 to give 32-time champions United States victory over Uzbekistan as they secured a winning 3-1 lead.

The United States had a 2-1 lead going into Sunday’s reverse singles after Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey held their serve throughout a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win over Istomin and Farrukh Dustov in the doubles a day earlier.

The Czech Republic, champions in 2012 and 2013, had a similar lead in New Delhi and saw off hosts India when Jiri Vesely thrashed Yuki Bhambri 6-3, 7-5, 6-2.

Adam Pavlasek and Radek Stepanek had defeated favourites Rohan Bopanna and Leander Paes 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 on Saturday to hand the Czechs an advantage heading into the final day.

Fabio Fognini sealed victory for Italy against Russia in Irkutsk when he beat Teymuraz Gabashvili 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) in Sunday’s first reverse singles.

It proved to be a fantastic weekend for Fognini who won his singles match on Friday before helping Simone Bolelli to win Saturday’s doubles encounter.

Poland, who also held a 2-1 lead going into Sunday’s finale, clinched a World Group spot for the first time when Michal Przysiezny defeated Slovakia’s Norbert Gombos in the deciding fifth rubber 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in Gydnia.

Also winning their playoff ties were Germany and Croatia as they completed their victories over Dominican Republic and Brazil after winning their first reverse singles matches on Sunday.

Published in Dawn, September 21st , 2015

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