‘Unbelievable scenes’: Tennis in uproar as player shoulder charges opponent, gifted win
The tennis world has been left gobsmacked after a rogue shoulder charge celebration took out a player in wild scenes at the Davis Cup.
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The Davis Cup tie between Belgium and Chile has descended into farcical scenes 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 morning (AEDT) in front of a home crowd in Hasselt.
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.
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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.
Watch the Davis Cup shoulder charge in the video above
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 okay”.
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??”
Confrontation over failure to concede point in more Davis Cup drama
It wasn’t the only moment of controversy from a dramatic weekend of Davis Cup action.
Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild was furious that French rival Arthur Fils failed to concede a crucial point after what many believed was a clear umpiring error.
With both players at the net, Fils drilled a fierce backhand out, with Wild appearing to sway out of the way.
The Brazilian was stunned when he was ruled to have touched the ball with his back as it passed him.
That meant his serve had been broken, leaving him staring defeat at 1-6 4-5 down.
And it meant a tense contest exploded.
Wild stopped in amazement, flinging his arms out wide in amazement, when he heard the umpire’s call.
His protests to the officials got him nowhere. His frustration quickly turned to Wild, who walked off and ignored pleas to tell the umpire the ball hadn’t hit his opponent.
Instead he sat down and gestured towards the official’s chair.
He was confronted by Brazilians, and eventually the two players were steered away from each other.
France went on to win the match 3-0 with victory in Sunday’s doubles, earning a second-round tie with Croatia.
Under a new Davis format introduced in recent years, the stakes are high in the two rounds of qualifying ties before the remaining eight nations fight it out for the trophy in the Davis Cup Final 8.
Australia defeated Sweden 3-0 to book their spot in the second round of qualifying.
Alex de Minaur and Alexander Vukic won their singles matches before John Peers and Matt Ebden clinched the tie with victory in the doubles.
Jannik Sinner’s Italy are the two-time defending champions having won the event in 2023 and last year.
As a result, Italy get a free pass to the finals in Bologna in November. The defending champions are taking over hosting duties from Malaga. The 2024 runners-up the Netherlands get a bye to the second round where they will face Argentina.
The seven winners of the second round will join Italy in the eight-team finals.
Davis Cup 2nd qualifying round fixtures (Sept 12-14): Netherlands v Argentina, Australia v Belgium, Canada/Hungary v Austria, Japan v Germany, USA v Czech Republic, Spain v Denmark, Croatia v France
— With The Sun, AFP
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