Belgium have upset second-seeded Australia to reach the Davis Cup Finals.
The 13th seeds, who have never won the competition, defeated heavy favourites Australia 3-2 to advance in the competition.
Raphael Collignon will be rightly heralded as the hero for Belgium. After all, the world number 91 battled cramp during his defeat of world number eight Alex de Minaur, before winning the deciding contest against Aleksandar Vukic.
Belgium’s victory is certainly one of the more notable shocks in recent memory. Even without powerhouse Alexei Popyrin at their disposal, Australia were clear favourites to reach the final eight in Bologna, Italy.
However, the Belgians’ triumph is far from the first major shock in Davis Cup history, as demonstrated by the list below.
Zimbabwe’s stunning victory against Australia
Davis Cup minnows Zimbabwe produced possibly the biggest shock in Davis Cup history when they defeated Australia in 1998.
Trailing 1-2 after three matches, the Zimbabweans faced an almost insurmountable task.
After all, the Australian team had a plethora of unbelievable talent at their disposal, including the likes of Pat Rafter, Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge.
However, brothers Wayne and Byron Black defied the odds, winning the fourth and fifth rubber to secure victory, and advance to the quarter-final stage.
Wayne defeated Woodforde 6-3, 7-5, 6-7, 6-4, while Byron closed out the contest with victory over Jason Stoltenberg, winning 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Remarkably, Wayne and Byron were the only players in the Zimbabwe squad.
Zimbabwe would play Italy in the quarter-finals, losing 0-5.
Kazakhstan upset Tomas Berdych’s Czech Republic team
During Kazakhstan’s World Group debut in 2011, they stunned the Tomas Berdych-led Czech Republic team.
Like the Zimbabweans, Kazakhstan trailed 1-2 before winning their final two singles matches.
World number 43 Andrey Golubev produced the shock of the tie, defeating ATP number seven Tomas Berdych, 7-5, 5-7 6-4, 6-2.
As per the Davis Cup website, Berdych – who is now Czechia’s Davis Cup captain – said: “From my point of view and from myself, I have to say that I played quite a solid game.
“But I couldn’t say one moment, one thing what he did wrong, he was just, perfect today. I saw him to play the match like this last year in Kuala Lumpur against Soderling, he beat him 62 62. That’s just the way of tennis.
“He deserves respect for the game what he did today.”
Mikhail Kukushkin then defeated Jan Hajek 6-4, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (8), 6-0, to clinch the tie. Kazakhstan would face Argentina in the quarter-finals, losing 0-5.
India shock Goran Ivanisevic’s Croatia
In 1995, Indian tennis legend Leander Paes produced one of his finest Davis Cup performances to help his country defeat a strong Croatian outfit led by future Wimbledon Men’s Singles champion Goran Ivanisevic.
Paes, ranked 123 on the ATP Tour, was involved in all three of India’s triumphs during the contest, first defeating Sasa Hirszon 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.
He then paired with Mahesh Bhupathi to defeat Hirszon and Ivanisevic 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6.
Paes, who won 18 Grand Slam doubles titles during his career, then upset world number seven Ivanisevic in the reverse singles, winning 6-7 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-1.
India’s 3-2 victory over Croatia granted the country entry to the second round of World Group qualifying.
