LIEGE, BELGIUM: He left it very late to make an appearance - gone 7pm on Sunday night to be precise - but once on court Belgium’s star man David Goffin made his presence felt by sealing a memorable and emotional 3-2 victory over the defending champions Switzerland. It is a result that puts Johan Van Herck’s men into the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group quarterfinals for the first time since 2007.
The element that will probably please Van Herck the most, however, is that it was truly a team performance with Goffin, Steve Darcis, Ruben Bemelmans and Niels Desein all contributing to a victory that left the Swiss team as the ninth defending champion nation since 1972 to be dumped out in the first round.
After world No. 344 Henri Laaksonen had forced a fifth and deciding rubber by beating the much higher-ranked Darcis 63 36 36 76(5) 61 - the 22-year-old’s second five-set win of the week - Goffin outclassed Adrien Bossel 64 60 64 in just over an hour-and-a-half to send the locals home happy.
On paper, with the visitors without their superstar duo Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka, Belgium were strong favourites to come through the clash played inside the intimate and noisy Country Hall du Sart Tilman on the outskirts of Liege.
But when Van Herck puts his feet up later tonight, he will reflect on a week that was far from straightforward. First there was Goffin’s injury that ruled him out of the opening two days, Bemelmans’ surprise attack of the cramps midway through his opening singles on Friday, not to mention those Laaksonen heroics. Whatever his favoured tipple, it will be a well-deserved drink at the end of a long week.
"It feels amazing,” Van Herck said afterwards. “It's a long time since we've been in the quarterfinals. It was difficult. Our problems started on Monday morning when David couldn't practice because of headaches, we had to deal with Ruben's jetlag, and Steve was also a bit sick on Friday and today. But we fought hard."
For a time it had looked like Darcis - born and bred in Liege - who would be the man to clinch victory when he led by two sets to one and 3-1 in the fourth against Laaksonen. But the Swiss youngster has shown this week he has a big heart and he broke back, nervelessly clinched the set on a tiebreak and went from strength to strength in the fifth, reeling off six successive games from 0-1 to seal victory two minutes short of the four-hour mark.
“I wasn't expecting to win two five-set matches,” reflected Laaksonen afterwards. “I knew I was practising really well before, and on Sunday when I had my first hit here I felt great on the court. But I could never expect to win two points for Switzerland.”
Although he began the final rubber as hot favourite against a player ranked 300 places below him, it can’t have been easy for world No. 21 Goffin to enter the fray so late in the tie. The home nation’s star attraction produced a professional and assured performance from the very first ball though, breaking Bossel in the opening game and looking more and more comfortable as the match wore on.
Once he broke in the ninth game of the third set for a 5-4 lead, Goffin wasted no time applying the finishing touches, his fifth ace of the match ending the contest and sparking wild celebrations courtside.
“It was tough to play the deciding match,” said Goffin, who also revealed that he was still in pain from his back injury during the match, a problem that will most likely force him to miss his next scheduled ATP event in Indian Wells. “We had to wait a lot because we had a problem with the lights and it was a really stressful moment. But at the end I was really happy to win that last point. By the end of the match I was playing really good.”
When the dust has settled, Belgian captain Van Herck can start planning for the visit of either Japan or Canada for his first World Group quarterfinal in charge of the national team. And if Goffin and co are all fit, he believes the Belgians will be a handful for either.
"It's possible [to win in July],” Van Herck insisted. “We have a lot of respect for Canada and Japan but it's not like playing Nadal and Ferrer, or Federer and Wawrinka. They have players we have beaten already so we are able to beat them."
In defeat, all Luthi could do was to admit the better team won. "I'm really proud of the way the guys fought,” the Swiss team leader said. “Everybody gave 100 per cent and Henri went over the limit, winning two five-setters. We did what we could but in the end the Belgian team were better.”
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