WATCH: Garin Knocked Out By Opponent In Most Controversial Match Ending Ever
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Cristian Garin and Zizou Bergs took care of one of the most controversial moments in the history of tennis during their tie at the 2025 Davis Cup Qualifiers.
The ITF finally brought back the traditional home and away ties for the Davis Cup. That means teams don't have to play in the group stages anymore, and instead, they can compete in rowdy atmospheres, as they were once used to.
One such tie took place in Belgium. Belgium hosted their tie against Chile at the Sporthal Alverberg in Hasselt, Belgium. Both teams are about evenly matched, so fans could be excited for a great two days of tennis.
On Day 1 of the tie, Zizou Bergs beat Tomas Barrios Vera 6-4, 6-3, to secure the first point for his country. After that, Cristian Garin responded with a win over Alexander Blockx, beating the Belgian player 7-6(6), 6-1.
On Day 2, a doubles match kicked off the action. Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen beat Tomas Barrios Vera and Nicolas Jarry, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, which meant that Belgium led 2-1.
In the fourth match of the tie, two winners from the first day met on the court. Bergs and Garin battled for every point, and the match was played in a great atmosphere.
The home player won the first set 6-3. In the second set, however, Garin came back from being one break down and converted his only set point with a spectacular backhand passing shot to win the set 6-4.
The third set was incredibly close, and in the first ten games, neither of the players got to a break point. That changed at 5-5 when Bergs put pressure on his opponent and broke his serve to lead 6-5.
Bergs had to grind out the rally, which he ended with a beautiful forehand cross, which his Chilean opponent couldn't get to. That meant the Belgian player secured the first break of the set and he was about to serve to win the match and the tie for Belgium.
All excited, Bergs started heavily celebrating with the home crowd, and as a part of his celebrations, he sprinted towards his bench. However, Garin was passing through the tight space between the net and the umpire's chair at that moment, and the two collided.
Maybe in an attempt to avoid Garin, Bergs even jumped up and hit the Chilean player's right eye with his shoulder. Garin immediately fell to the ground, struggling to understand what just happened.
Bergs, on the other hand, immediately started apologizing. He was aware that he could be disqualified from the match for colliding with his opponent, even though he was about to serve for the match.
Garin didn't want to continue after the incident. His eye seemed to be hurt, and when consulting the situation with the supervisor, he made it clear that he wouldn't continue.
However, he was told by both the umpire and the supervisor that Bergs wouldn't be disqualified. After the umpire announced that the play would continue, Garin remained seated in his chair.
The umpire then proceeded to call "delay of the game" violations on Garin, which ultimately ended in him losing the final game without moving from the match.
Bergs won the match 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, and Belgium advanced to the second round of the 2025 Davis Cup Qualifiers, but probably in the most controversial way ever.
It wasn't the only incident at the Davis Cup this year, either. The day before this incident, Arthur Fils and Thiago Seyboth Wild clashed during their match in France.
