Argentina and Belgium battled for a place in the 2015 Davis Cup final—just like Belgium is trying to do this weekend over Australia.
After establishing itself as a perennial Davis Cup contender with three runner-up finishes from 2006 to 2011, Argentina was relegated to a playoff in 2014 after dropping its first-round tie to Italy.
The playoff rounds were familiar territory to Belgium, which also dropped its first-round tie in 2014. Both nations won through, though, to re-enter the world group.
In the first round in 2015, Argentina squeaked past Brazil, then routed Serbia to reach the semifinals. Belgium posted similar results: barely getting by Switzerland, then dominating Canada in the quarterfinals to set up an unlikely final-four encounter.
Playing host for the third consecutive tie, Belgium got off to a strong start as its top player, David Goffin, overwhelmed Federico Delbonis in straight sets to stake the home team to a 1-0 lead. In the next rubber, the veteran Steve Darcis took on Argentina’s top player at the tie, Leonardo Mayer, and fell in four sets to leave the nations leveled at 1-1 after the first day.
Darcis and Mayer faced off again on day two, this time in doubles. Once again, it was the Argentine who came out on top: Partnered with Carlos Berlocq, the pair beat Darcis and Ruben Bemelmans to take a 2-1 lead.
Facing elimination, Goffin put on a masterful performance to defeat surprise replacement Diego Schwartzman in straight sets to even up the tie at two matches apiece.
Contesting a live fifth rubber in the second reverse singles match, Darcis and Delbonis split the first two sets on indoor hard courts. Darcis took the third set 7-5 and went up 5-3 in the fourth, a game away from putting Belgium through to the final. Delbonis evened things up at five games apiece, fighting off two match points in the process.
The set went into a tiebreaker and Darcis dominated, taking five of the first six points. The Belgian earned another four match points and Delbonis saved the first one. There was nothing he could do on Darcis’ next opportunity as he put away a smash to propel Belgium into the championship round.
111
The last time Belgium reached the Davis Cup final was in 1904, 111 years before 2015.
12
Goffin ran his 2015 sets-won tally in Davis Cup to 12, capturing all four of his best-of-five rubbers for the year.
4
Darcis was 4-0 in live fifth-set rubbers with his win over Delbonis.
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