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Belgium’s Route to the 2017 Davis Cup Final

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Belgium will take on France in the 2017 Davis Cup final at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille, France November 24-26.

Johan Van Herck’s side have caused three upsets to reach the final where they will be heavy underdogs once again.  Those who bet on tennis can currently find odds of 3/1 on Belgium winning the Davis Cup final.

They reached the final after seeing off Germany 4-1 in the first round and they even did it without the new world No. 7 David Goffin.

Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber was defeated in five sets by Steve Darcis in the opening rubber before Alexander Zverev leveled the tie in the second match.  However, Belgium would win the final three matches, which included their only doubles win, and Steve Darcis beating the current world No. 4 Zverev in four sets.

In the quarterfinals, Belgium beat Italy 3-2 but the scoreline suggested the tie was tighter than it actually was.  Steve Darcis kept his impressive 2017 Davis Cup record up with a four sets victory over Paolo Lorenzi in the first rubber and then David Goffin gave the Belgian’s a 2-0 lead with a straight sets victory over Andreas Seppi in the second rubber. Italy won the doubles match with an 8-6 tie-breaker in the fifth set before Goffin defeated Lorenzi to book their place in the semifinals before the score was reduced to 3-2 in the dead rubber.

In September, Goffin got Belgium off to a winning start in their semifinal victory over Australia by beating John Millman in four sets.  Darcis had his winning run come to an end when he lost in five sets to the charismatic Nick Kyrgios. Australia then took a 2-1 lead with a straight sets victory in the doubles.  Goffin then saved the tie with a victory over Kyrgios before Darcis pulled off a straight sets victory over Jordan Thompson to book Belgium’s place in the 2017 Davis Cup final.

France head into the final as heavy favorites.  It’s no surprise when captain Yannick Noah has the likes of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (15), Lucas Pouille (18), Adrian Mannarino (28) and Richard Gasquet (31) to choose from.

Belgium will be featuring in their third final having last reached the final in 2015 when they were beaten by Andy Murray and Great Britain.

David Goffin
David Goffin

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