The Davis Cup tie between Belgium and Chile descended into chaos after a Belgian player won his match despite shoulder-charging his opponent, who pleaded for the match to be stopped.
Belgium edged Chile 3-1 in the first round of Davis Cup qualifiers on Monday in front of a home crowd in Hasselt, Belgium.
Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen put the hosts ahead when they beat Tomas Barrios Vera and Nicolas Jarry 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the doubles.
But controversy erupted as Zizou Bergs clinched the tie for Chile with a 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 win over Cristian Garin.
After holding serve in a marathon 10th game in the third set, Bergs galloped round the court in celebration, racing round the net where he collided with Garin, sending the Chilean flying.
Bergs’ shoulder collected Garin in the face and left him in serious pain, lying on the court clutching his right eye.
Garin received medical attention and Team Chile wanted to stop the match, but instead received three consecutive time violations as play was scheduled to resume.
This resulted in a game penalty which awarded Bergs the deciding set 7-5.
Speaking in the post-match press conference, Garin said he wasn’t fit to finish the match.
“They only wanted to finish that match at any cost,” he said.
Chile’s Davis Cup captain Nicholas Massu said: “One hour and a half later we still didn’t receive any apology from anyone. Not a single person asked if Cristian is OK.”
A furious Garin shared a screenshot of the moment Zizou’s shoulder hit him in the face on Instagram with the caption: “So the player is injured and can’t continue to play but we do like nothing happened.
“Wow what a beautiful world and what a great mentality.”
He also posted a photo of his face where the area around his right eye is visibly red.
Garin later posted on Instagram: “I still cannot believe we got disqualified. They weren’t disqualified, btw. But we got his point.
“Years of loving this sport and I’ve never thought I would live something like what happened”.
Team Chile released an official statement with the country’s Olympic Committee appealing the decision against Garin.
Belgium’s captain Steve Darcis said: “This is not how we wanted to end it, but the decision was made by the referee and we have to follow that. Zizou didn’t do this on purpose, it was an accident.”
Tennis fans were astonished by the scenes and surprised Bergs wasn’t automatically defaulted for injuring his opponent.
Tennis commentator Jose Morgado wrote on X: “UNBELIEVABLE scenes in this BEL-CHI tie. Bergs breaks at 5-5 in the 3rd but hits Garin while celebrating.
“Chileans wanted a default, umpires disagreed, Garin (eye swollen) refuses to keep playing and gets a game penalty to lose the match (and tie).”
The Tennis Letter posted: “Crazy scenes at Davis Cup. Wow.”
Tennis blogger Pavvy G wrote: “Shocking decision. I feel very sorry for Cristian Garin and Chile.
“How can a tennis player injured by his opponent, have to retire from the match and the opponent inflicting the injury goes through?”
Commentator Val Febbo added: “What on EARTH!? Zizou Bergs crashes into Garin as he breaks to serve for the match. Clearly an accident but why did he keep running at the net??”
