Belgium stunned France on Tuesday night, reaching their first Davis Cup semi-finals since 2017.
The team, led by Steve Darcis, defeated their French opponents 2-0 at the Bologna Fiere in Italy.
World number 86 began proceedings by battling from a set down against world number 42 Corentin Moutet, winning the contest 2-6, 7-5, 7-5.
Zizou Bergs, the world number 43, clinched the tie for Belgium with a 6-4, 7-6 victory over Shanghai Masters finalist Arthur Rinderknech.
Bergs performed superbly against Rinderknech. However, it is Raphael Collignon who should be taking most of the plaudits once again, in what has been a stellar Davis Cup campaign for the 23-year-old.
Raphael Collignon has outshone all others during the 2025 Davis Cup
Raphael Collignon was the hero for Belgium in the Davis Cup qualifying stage, and is proving to be again at the Finals.
In the second round of Davis Cup qualifying, Collignon faced top 10 ATP star Alex de Minaur in the first match of the tie.
Despite suffering from cramping during the match, Collignon pulled off the upset, defeating de Minaur 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.
Four matches later, Belgium and Australia were tied at 2-2.
In the deciding rubber, Collignon stepped up once again, defeating Aleksandar Vukic 6-7, 6-2, 6-3.
The Belgian, who has become somewhat of a ‘comeback King’, has been an unsung hero during this year’s Davis Cup event, and he will have the opportunity to shine once again when Belgium play their semi-final opponents in Bologna.
Who could Belgium face in the semi-finals?
Belgium, a country that has never won the Davis Cup despite reaching the final on three occasions, will face Italy or Austria in the 2025 Davis Cup semi-finals.
Italy are without Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti, but still boast a squad of top-level stars, such as Flavio Cobolli, Matteo Berrettini and Andrea Vavasorri.
Austria, meanwhile, are captained by former world number eight Jurgen Melzer. With their highest-ranked singles player being 80th in the world, Austria are the clear underdogs against Italy.
If Belgium defeats one of these two countries, they will face one of Spain, Czechia, Argentina or Germany in the Davis Cup final.
