Collignon stuns De Minaur, Belgium leads Australia 2-0 in Davis Cup
Belgium stands on the brink of an impressive away win in the Davis Cup Qualifiers second round after Raphael Collignon and Zizou Bergs delivered standout performances on Saturday in Sydney.
The No. 91 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Collignon upset World No. 8 and hometown favourite Alex de Minaur 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 inside Ken Rosewall Arena to give his country a perfect start in its bid for a spot at November’s Davis Cup Final 8. The 23-year-old Collignon appeared to have lost momentum after a bright opening set in his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with De Minaur, but he dug deep and battled through cramps to earn the first Top 10 win of his career.
A herculean effort from Belgium’s Raphael Collignon beating Australia’s Alex de Minaur to give his nation a 1-0 lead 🇧🇪#DavisCup pic.twitter.com/EZ9GUumUY2
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) September 13, 2025
“I think when you play for your country there is no pain,” said Collignon, who also defeated Casper Ruud last month at the US Open, in his on-court interview. “We always have great players, and this is unbelievable I think for a small country like ours.”
Bergs later sank Jordan Thompson 7-6(4), 6-4 to cap a perfect day for Belgium. A three-time Davis Cup finalist, including in 2015 and 2017, Belgium will now look to Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen to wrap up victory on Saturday, when the experienced doubles duo takes on John Peers and Rinky Hijikata.
“It feels great for the team,” said Bergs after his win against Thompson. “We did a great job today but we’re far from the end still.”
Germany Books Its Spot In Bologna
Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz added the finishing touches to a dominant display from Germany in Tokyo, where the doubles stars defeated Yosuke Watanuki and Takeru Yuzuki 6-3, 7-6(4) to seal victory against Japan and their country’s spot in the Final 8.
After Jan-Lennard Struff and Yannick Hanfmann had earned singles victories on Friday, Krawietz and Puetz notched their 18th win in 19 Davis Cup rubbers as a team to ensure Germany will compete in Bologna, where Final 8 action takes place from 18-23 November. Justin Engel then celebrated his Davis Cup debut by prevailing in a clash of #NextGenATP stars. The 17-year-old Engel defeated 19-year-old Rei Sakamoto 6-3, 6-7(2), 10-7 to wrap a 4-0 triumph for Germany.
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