AUSTRALIA cemented its spot in the 2025 Davis Cup Qualifiers Second Round with a comfortable 3-1 vi tory over Sweden on the weekend. The green and gold wrapped up proceedings with a 3-0 start thanks to doubles pairing John Peers and Matthew Ebden getting the win, so with Rotterdam coming up for top ranked Alex de Minaur, captain Lleyton Hewitt opted to throw in Peers for the dead rubber which handed Sweden a point.

>> Aussies kick off Davis Cup campaign

The far higher ranked Aussies never really looked like losing aside from a shock first set tiebreaker loss in the doubles. Ebden and Peers – who have previously been ranked first and second in the world respectively in the past – quickly got back on top to run out 6-7 6-3 6-2 victors. The wins came after de Minaur and Aleksandar Vukic both wrapped up their singles matches on day one against Mikael Ymer and Leo Borg respectively in straight sets.

It has been a long time between drinks for Peers, who has not played an ATP Tour singles match since 2014, but has never played a main draw match, with the doubles specialist almost exclusively playing on the Challenger Tour.

The victory meant Australia faces Belgium in the second round, and will host the European nation, with the last time the two sides faced of in an home-and-away tie being in 2017 where Bergium got the chocolates on clay to reach the World Group Final.

AUSTRALIA (3) defeated SWEDEN (1)

Alex de Minaur (AUS) defeated Mikael Ymer (SWE) 7-5 6-1
Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) defeated Leo Borg (SWE) 6-4 6-4
M. Ebden/J. Peer (AUS) defeated F. Bergevi/A. Goransson (SWE) 6-7 6-3 6-2
Leo Borg (SWE) defeated John Peers (AUS) 7-5 6-4

TALKING POINTS

Default or not to default?

Perhaps the biggest talking point of the weekend not for the tennis action itself, but instead the way it ended was that of Belgium’s 3-1 victory over Chile. After being 1-1 following day one, Belgium went up thanks to a successful doubles tie. In the first match of the reverse singles, Zizou Bergs celebrated winning the penultimate game of the third set against his Chilean opponent Cristian Garin to go 6-5 up in the third.

During his celebration he sprinted to the other side of the court and on his way through, collected Garin who walking to his seat, leaving the Chilean with a bruised eye. He and Chile asked for a default due to the clash, but were denied. In protest, Garin refused to continue, and due to not being awarded a default victory, were penalised the final game.

Making the pill even more bitter to swallow was the fact that the match sealed the tie for Belgium, with Bergs’ 6-3 4-6 7-5 victory making it 3-1 and no need for the final match between Alexander Blockx and Tomas Barrios Vera to take place. View the footage below and decide for yourself if it should have been a default.

Cristian Garin refusing to play after being knocked down by Zizou Bergs during changeover. His eye is swollen and Garin and Chile team are asking for a default.

Bergs was about to serve for the match at 6-5.

Play has stopped since 10 minutes.

pic.twitter.com/4S7EZ6RH6B

— edgeAI (@edgeAIapp) February 2, 2025

Great Danes! Denmark completes stunning comeback

He promised it would happen, but only the most staunch Danish fans could have believed that Denmark would come back from 0-2 down against Serbia to move through to the second round of qualfiers. The visiting side was missing former world number one Novak Djokovic, but after Holger Rune suffered a shock loss to Hamad Medjedovic, the tie looked over for Denmark.

Rune told the Danish fans that he promised to turn it around and personally see his nation through to the next round. He teamed up with Johannes Ingildsen in the doubles to defeat Medjedovic and Miomir Kecmanovic 6-4 6-4, before rolling Kecmanovic 6-2 6-2. The odds were still against Denmark as 21-year-old Elmer Moeller had to do what Rune could not, and defeat the 94th ranked Medjedovic.

Down 6-1 after a set, Denmark looked to be exiting the tournament, but with the voice of the home crowd, Moeller produced an incredible comeback to win 1-6 6-4 6-3. The win moved the Danes through to the next stage of the tournament, knocking Serbia back to the playoffs at the end of the year to try and return to the qualifiers in 12 months time.

Japan eyes off World Group Finals for first time in five years

Japan has cause to celebrate after defeating Great Britain and moving within one victory of the Davis Cup World Group for the first time in five years. Not since competing in the Finals of 2019 – where it lost both round-robin matches – has the Asian nation made it, while they are yet to win a match while inside the World Group.

Against Great Britain, the pairing of Kei Nishikori and Yoshihito Nishioka teamed up well through the singles to get the job done, taking on Jacob Fearnley and Billy Harris. Missing Top 20 player Jack Draper hurt the Brits, and in front of the home crowd, Japan was able to enjoy a memorable win. They came from 1-2 down with Nishioka defeating Fearnley – making it eight straight Davis Cup singles wins – and Nishikori knocked off Harris to seal the result.

RESULTS:

DENMARK (3) defeated SERBIA (2)
ARGENTINA (3) defeated NORWAY (2)
HUNGARY (3) defeated CANADA (2)
JAPAN (3) defeated GREAT BRITAIN (2)
BELGIUM (3) defeated CHILE (1)
AUSTRIA (4) defeated FINLAND (0)
GERMANY (3) defeated ISRAEL (1)
USA (4) defeated CHINESE TAIPEI (0)
CZECH REPUBLIC (4) defeated SOUTH KOREA (0)
SPAIN (3) defeated SWITZERLAND (1)
CROATIA (3) defeated SLOVAKIA (1)
FRANCE (4) defeated BRAZIL (0)

QUALIFIERS SECOND ROUND:

Netherlands vs. Argentina
Australia vs. Belgium
Austria vs. Hungary
Germany vs. Japan
USA vs. Czech Republic
Denmark vs. Spain
Croatia vs. France