Darcis wants to lift his head after Belgium's elimination in the Davis Cup: "We will have learned a lot this week, today even more"

Belgium came close to taking Italy to a decisive doubles in the first Davis Cup semi-final in Bologna. But Zizou Bergs missed seven match points against Flavio Cobolli, before losing. The captain of the Belgian team, Steve Darcis, discussed his team's match against the double defending champions.

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Adrien Guyot

le 22/11/2025 à 10h04

2 min to read

Bergs Collignon Darcis

Italy is the first nation qualified for the Davis Cup final. After Berrettini's victory against Collignon, Cobolli brought the qualifying point to his country, following an epic victory against Zizou Bergs (6-3, 6-7, 7-6 in 3 hours and 3 minutes of play and after saving seven match points). This defeat sealed Belgium's elimination, who had knocked out France in the quarter-finals and qualified for the semi-finals of this competition for the first time since 2017. Steve Darcis, captain of the Belgian team, gave his assessment.

"Sport is sometimes cruel, that's for sure... But it's also beautiful. Today, we experienced a day of mixed emotions with a first match that wasn't great and a second one that was exceptional. We can't blame ourselves, criticize anyone; those who didn't play well today have saved the team several times this year. We have an exceptional team, perhaps still a bit young to go further in the competition.

But we will have learned a lot this week and today (Friday) even more. I am very proud of them, that's normal. They are all devastated, all disappointed, me first. I am super proud of the team, the staff, our supporters, our country. We must not be ashamed, have no regrets, just tell ourselves that we came up against a stronger team today. We weren't that bad.

Zizou's (Bergs) match was an incredible moment, it was going back and forth. Both deserved to win, unfortunately in sport, there has to be a winner. Today, it was them. We can say well done, they went and got it. We weren't far from getting that decisive doubles, which could have gone either way. It will be for next time.

2025 is over, we will all go home, take a little break. And then start 2026. We'll see each other again soon during the preparation in Australia, unfortunately in mid-February. When I say unfortunately, it's because I would have preferred not to play that match. These are moments together, they need them. I hope these moments will help us grow as a team," Darcis thus stated for RTBF.