{"id":223948,"date":"2025-09-13T16:05:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T16:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/223948\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T16:05:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T16:05:11","slug":"multiple-grand-slam-winner-slams-barbaric-rule-during-alex-de-minaurs-shock-davis-cup-defeat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/223948\/","title":{"rendered":"Multiple Grand Slam winner slams &#8216;barbaric&#8217; rule during Alex de Minaur&#8217;s shock Davis Cup defeat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Alex de Minaur lost to a player ranked 83 places below him in his Davis Cup opener.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Australia were heavy favorites to defeat Belgium and advance to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/davis-cup\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Davis Cup Finals<\/a>, playing in front of their home crowd in Sydney.<\/p>\n<p>Looking to get off to a positive start, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/alex-de-minaur\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">De Minaur<\/a> played Belgian youngster Raphael Collignon in the first singles match.<\/p>\n<p>Picking up the biggest win of his professional career, Collignon stunned De Minaur in three sets 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, to give his nation a 1-0 lead.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2234493193-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Raphael Collignon celebrates after beating Alex de Minaur at the Davis Cup\" class=\"wp-image-129524\" \/>Photo by DAVID GRAY\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>He didn\u2019t have things all his own way, however, and was struggling physically throughout the match.<\/p>\n<p>Watching Collignon suffer from cramps during the tie, Australian tennis legend <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/todd-woodbridge\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Todd Woodbridge<\/a> gave his verdict on a \u2018barbaric\u2019 tennis rule.<\/p>\n<p>Todd Woodbridge says cramping rules are \u2018cruel\u2019 <\/p>\n<p>Collignon was on the floor rolling around in pain as he struggled with severe cramping.<\/p>\n<p>However, as cramps are considered to be a result of poor conditioning, officials didn\u2019t call for the physios to treat the 23-year-old.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2234493316-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Raphael Collignon suffers from cramps against Alex de Minaur\" class=\"wp-image-129518\" \/>Photo by DAVID GRAY\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on commentary for the \u2018Nine Network\u2019, Woodbridge couldn\u2019t believe what he was seeing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is ridiculous. This is so, so cruel,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGet the physio out there now. This is more important [than the result]. This is a health issue now.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve just sent a couple of messages, just trying to clarify what the ruling is here because I thought the understanding was that we got rid of the barbaric look of what we\u2019ve just seen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Collignon approached the umpire\u2019s chair ready to retire from the match at the beginning of the third set, but suddenly had a change of heart.<\/p>\n<p>Saving six break points, Collignon came through to pick up the win in three sets, against all odds.<\/p>\n<p>The Belgian was understandably delighted during his post-match interview.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt feels amazing. I thought I wouldn\u2019t be able to finish. I tried to play with that strength, tried to go for it, focus on the serve, and I don\u2019t know how I won. Yeah, crazy. I think when you play for your country, there is no pain,\u201d said Collignon.<\/p>\n<p>Collignon gave Belgium a 1-0 lead before his teammate doubled their advantage shortly after\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Australia need remarkable comeback to reach Davis Cup Finals<\/p>\n<p>In the second match of the day, Zizou Bergs defeated Jordan Thompson in straight sets to put Belgium 2-0 up.<\/p>\n<p>Australia will now need to win three matches in a row if they are to qualify for the Davis Cup Finals in November.<\/p>\n<p>The matches Australia need to win<\/p>\n<ul class=\"inline-links multi\">\n<li>Rinky Hijikata\/John Peers vs Sander Gille\/Joran Vliegen<\/li>\n<li>Alex de Minaur vs Zizou Bergs<\/li>\n<li>Jordan Thompson vs Raphael Collignon<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Returning to the court on Sunday, September 14, Rinky Hijikata, John Peers, De Minaur, and Thompson will have to be at their very best to avoid the upset.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this week, Australia\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/billie-jean-king-cup\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Billie Jean King Cup<\/a> captain, Nicole Pratt, claimed Australia were the favorites against Belgium.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf Alex de Minaur is playing, I feel very confident there\u2019s going to be two singles wins there. Alex, playing at Ken Rosewall Arena\u2026 It\u2019s his,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think Australia are the favorites for sure, we do incredibly well in the doubles, picking up the extra rubber.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2234497659-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Alex de Minaur walks off court after losing at the 2025 Davis Cup\" class=\"wp-image-129532\" \/>Photo by DAVID GRAY\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Making the worst possible start, the \u2018favorites\u2019 are at risk of missing out on a place in the Davis Cup Finals.<\/p>\n<p>Australia have been one of the most consistent teams in the competition over recent years, qualifying for the final in 2023 and the semifinals in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Whether they can keep their dreams of a title in 2025 alive remains to be seen, but you certainly won\u2019t want to miss any of the action when Australia and Belgium return to finish off their qualifying tie on Sunday, September 14.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alex de Minaur lost to a player ranked 83 places below him in his Davis Cup opener. Australia&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":223949,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[60098,1479,2342,121450,62,1464,49878,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-223948","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-alex-de-minaur","9":"tag-atp","10":"tag-davis-cup","11":"tag-raphael-collignon","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-tennis","14":"tag-todd-woodbridge","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115197845510226639","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}