Davis Cup Final Preview: Belgium

Nov 22, 2017
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Davis Cup Final Preview: Belgium

Published Nov 22, 2017

In 2015, Belgium was a surprise story that fell short in the Davis Cup final to Great Britain. The underdogs have proven to be resilient with committed, gritty players and a wealth of experience on the world stage. In 2017, they upset Germany, squeaked by Italy and topped a favored Australian team in the semifinals.

The Belgians' final mission is an opportunity to defeat a strong French squad for the Davis Cup trophy in Lille, France on hard courts. The host French stadium has a capacity crowd of over 27,000 spectators hoping to rattle the Belgians.

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Age: 27

Ranking: No. 7 (doubles No. 548)

Davis Cup Record: 19-3 singles, 0-3 doubles

Season Highlight: Goffin is playing the best tennis of his career right now. He defeated Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer on his way to the final at London’s ATP finals. Can he build on his momentum, or will his legs be fatigued after last week’s heroics?

Age: 33

Ranking: No. 76 (doubles No. 321)

Davis Cup Record: 22-9 singles, 1-7 doubles

Season Highlight: He’s already a Davis Cup legend who has scored huge singles victories over Alexander Zverev and a straight-sets victory in the deciding rubber over Australia’s Jordan Thompson. His toughness and composure will be needed to pull off at least one victory against one of France’s powerful stars.

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Age: 29

Ranking: No. 118 (doubles No. 274)

Davis Cup Record: 4-8 singles, 7-7 doubles

Season Highlight: Bemelmans and Joris De Loore defeated the Zverev brothers in the first round for Belgian’s only doubles victory this year. The lefty primarily plays ATP Challenger events, but he had a thrilling week reaching the semifinals in Antwerp last month before losing to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (who will represent France this weekend).

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Age: 25

Ranking: No. 181 (doubles No. 1229)

Davis Cup Record: 0-1 singles, 0-1 doubles

Season Highlight: He’s new to playing Davis Cup ties this year, and he could get passed over for teammate Joris De Loore who is coming back from injury. Otherwise, he mainly plays ATP Challenger events.

Bemelmans and DeGreef have the near-impossible mission to defeat France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut--one of the top teams in the world. It falls heavy on Goffin and Darcis to take three of four singles matches against Tsonga and Lucas Pouille. The Belgians prefer clay, but the Rebound Ace surface has a nice bounce that could especially help Goffin’s ability to grind out points.

Prediction: To be revealed in Thursday's preview of Team France