Photo credit: United Cup Facebook
One of the smallest nations in this United Cup field continues to come up with big-time wins.
Elise Mertens and Zizou Bergs each scored singles wins powering Belgium past Czechia 2-1 and into its maiden United Cup semifinals at Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney.
Belgium will play Switzerland, led by Belinda Bencic, captain Stan Wawrinka and Jakub Paul, for a spot in the United Cup final.
Mertens blasted 12 aces battling past two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova 5-7, 6-1, 7-5 in two hours, 33-minutes to give Belgium insurmountable 2-0 lead in the best-of-three-match tie.
The veteran Mertens credits Belgium’s bond as a key component to its first trip to the final four.
“I mean, it’s great you have the team around,” Mertens said. “Once a year we can play in a team format. Tennis, it’s a very individual sport. It’s very nice to have the coach next to you, to get the team behind you.
“We know each other for so many years already. That kind of makes the bond even more special.”
Earlier, Bergs beat Miami Open champion Jakub Mensik 6-2, 7-6(4) to stake Belgium to a 1-0 lead. It was Bergs’ second Top 20 triumph of the week following his 6-4, 6-2 win over world No. 5 Felix Auger-Aliassime in Belgium’s 3-0 sweep of Canada on Tuesday.
World No. 42 Bergs played one of the most pulsating matches of the year in a 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-7(15) loss to Italian Flavio Cobolli in the Davis Cup semifinals last November. Bergs believes Belgium can be a big player in team competition and looks forward to what he called a “Sassy Saturday” showdown vs. Switzerland.
“Yeah, unbelievable day. I just realized later on that we are top four, which is pretty crazy. We did it in Davis Cup top four, now with the mixed format again,” Bergs said. “Belgium is becoming a big country slowly. We’re small, but starting to perform big.
“Yeah, I think unreal performance from the team today. So excited to go ahead against Switzerland. As Elise said maybe a little bit of a home advantage because we’ve been playing here, we know how it is. I think, again, great chances going into the semifinals.
“Every day we come up with a great day, like Stunty Tuesday, Thirsty Thursday. So the name for Saturday is going to be Sassy Saturday. That sounds very good. Hopefully that brings up the good vibes again.”