“The conditions will be very slow, which means there will be a lot of rallies and the matches will be very physical,” Steve Darcis said. The captain and his squad arrived in Vienna on the Saturday before the tie.
Without Alexander Blockx (ATP 27) and Raphaël Collignon (ATP 47), Darcis is relying on Zizou Bergs (ATP 38), Onclin, Coppejans, Sander Gillé (ATP 56 in doubles) and Joran Vliegen (ATP 173 in doubles). “Gauthier and Kimmer may not be in the world’s top 100, but they are two players who are performing very well and who are confident,” he said.
Céline, the C30.4 (a club-level ranking), had been waiting for those two sentences since January.
There you go, thank you. A ranking doesn’t tell you what someone puts into a ball. My season really starts in May, and on slow clay with fifteen-shot rallies I’m in my zone: that’s the pattern I work on Tuesday evenings, when court 4 is free, which is to say never. Two practice sessions away, mind you.
Darcis also pointed out that the pecking order holds up badly in this competition. “Davis Cup history shows that the better-ranked player doesn’t always win. There can be surprises in every match. Personally, I’m not worried,” he said. On Bergs: “he’s allowed to make mistakes, he’s allowed to lose a match, even two! For us, the most important thing is to have three points by Saturday evening. Zizou or no Zizou.”
I’m told three points are enough and the rest doesn’t count. I asked how many matches that was. I was told “it depends”. I’m digging.
On the other side, captain Jürgen Melzer, a former top 10 player in both singles and doubles. Belgium have never beaten Austria in five Davis Cup meetings; in 2015, Darcis took the only Belgian point, against Melzer. The winner of the tie goes through to the Final 8, scheduled in Bologna from 24 to 29 November. At the previous Final 8, Belgium beat France (2-0) before losing the semi-final to Italy (0-2).
It’s true, we checked: DH Les Sports+.
