Belgium’s Steve Darcis engineered the biggest surprise of the 2017 Davis Cup First Round this past weekend, upsetting both Philipp Kohlschreiber and Alex Zverev to lead his country past Germany and into the quarterfinal round.
Here’s a little more on the veteran talent:
The Steve Darcis File
Age: 32
Height: 5-10
Residence: Saive, Belgium
Current Rank: 59
Career-High Rank: 44 (May 2008)
Best US Open Finish: 2R (2008, 11-12, 15-16)
The Baseline
- Darcis was the hero of Belgium’s victory over heavily favored Germany in the first round of the 2017 Davis Cup competition. Playing on an indoor hard court in Frankfurt, he opened the showdown by winning tiebreaks in the fourth and fifth sets to edge world No. 29 Kohlschreiber, and two days later he topped rising star and world No. 22 Zverev in four sets to clinch the tie. Germany would have been heavily favored if the tie had gone to a fifth-and-decisive match, with Kohlschreiber likely facing either world No. 143 Arthur de Greef or No. 141 Ruben Bemelmans.
- Darcis has been a stalwart for the Belgian Davis Cup team since his debut in 2005. He has played in 20 ties overall, posting a 20-8 record in singles and 1-7 mark in doubles. In 2015, he won the decisive fifth-and-final match over Argentina’s Frederico Delbonis to send Belgium to its first World Group Final since 1904.
- He turned pro in 2003 and has been a steady presence in or near the Top 100 since 2007. His best year-end finish was No. 61, which came in 2008, the same year he won his second tour title, at the ATP event in Memphis. His first ATP crown came at the clay-court event in Amersfoort, Netherlands, in 2007.
- He is best known for his stunning upset of Rafael Nadal in the first round of 2013 Wimbledon. The straight-sets victory, which came when Darcis was ranked No. 135 in the world, snapped Nadal’s 22-match winning streak and dealt the Spaniard his first-ever loss in the opening round of a Grand Slam.
- Darcis has a 5-8 career record in the main draw of the US Open, advancing to the second round on five occasions. He is a perfect 9-0 in qualifying matches, however, advancing to the main draw in 2007, 2014 and 2016, when he defeated Australian Jordan Thompson before losing to John Isner in the round of 64.
They Said It!
“We need three miracles to get through this tie. … We were the underdogs in all the matches but did an unbelievable job. This is a great weekend for Belgium.” – Darcis, after beating Zverev to clinch the Belgian victory
