Belgium and Argentina drew level at 1-1 after the opening day of the Davis Cup semifinal on hard court in the Forest National in Brussels, an Indoor 8000-capacity arena. David Goffin beat Federico Delbonis 7-5 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 to give Belgium a 1-0 lead. Leonardo Mayer then defeated Steve Darcis 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-1) 4-6 6-3 to draw Argentina level to 1-1 before Saturday’s crucial doubles match which could be decisive.
Belgium has returned to the Davis Cup semifinals for the first time since 1999 when they lost 4-1 against France and is bidding to qualify for the final for the first time since 1904. Argentina is aiming to win their first Davis Cup title after losing four finals in 1981, 2006, 2008 and 2011.
Goffin got the first break of the match in the 10-minute-long fifth game but Delbonis broke back in the 10th game. The Belgian star went down 4-5 but he bounced back reeling off four consecutive games to go up a set and a break for 7-5 1-0. Delbonis broke back to love in the eighth game of the second set to force the second set to the tie-break. Both players went on serve at 3-3 before Goffin reeled off four consecutive points to win the breaker with 7-3.
Goffin dropped his serve in the opening game of the third set but he broke back after Delbonis wasted two chances for 2-0. Goffin won four consecutive games to take a 5-1 lead. Delbonis had to save three match points at 0-40 in the 8th game.
World Number 15 Goffin served for the match at 5-3 in the third set and held to love with an ace on match point to wrap up the first match in straight sets after two hours and 32 minutes.
“I am really happy with the way I won today. The atmosphere in Brussels is amazing. It’s so noisy. It’s so tough to stay focused. You have to use the energy from the crowd and I did that. I had the early breaks in the first two sets, but my opponent played really aggressively and made it tough for me to finish the sets ”, said Goffin
In the second match Leonardo Mayer beat Steve Darcis in a hard-fought battle which lasted 3 hours and 52 minutes. Mayer took a 2-0 lead winning the first two sets which did not feature any breaks and were decided by two tie-breaks but he did not convert on his first ten break points.
Darcis got the first break of the match at 1-1 in the third set and converted on another break point to cruise to a 4-1 lead en route to 5-2. Mayer bounced back breaking serve but Darcis held on to wrap up the third set.
Mayer clinched the decisive break at 2-1 in the fourth set and never looked back. The Argentine hit his 24th ace on match point to wrap up the match with 6-3 keeping the hopes of the South-American team alive.
Mayer hit 81 winners to 77 unforced errors and won 31 of his 44 points at the net.
Belgians Rubens Bielemans and Kimmer Coppejans will team up to play the doubles against Carlos Berloq and Diego Schwartzmann.
Diego Sampaolo
