VIDEO: Belgian player hit a Chilean in the Davis Cup and was not sanctioned, generating a scandal

Christian Garin argued with the main referee for not sanctioning the Belgian Zizou Bergs and was eventually disqualified for not returning to the court.

Cristian Garin y Zizou Bergs | Captura: X de @DSports
Cristian Garin y Zizou Bergs Captura: X de @DSports

A controversy closed Chile’s participation in the Davis Cup after Cristian Garin was attacked by his Belgian opponent Zizou Bergs. The Chilean’s rival celebrated a break that left the score 6-5 in his favor in the third set, and when he ran towards his bench, he grabbed Garin’s arm, jumped, and hit him in the eye with his shoulder.

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After the break, Bergs had to serve and if he won his point, he would achieve victory and the overall triumph of Belgium against Chile in this first-round Davis Cup tie.

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This blow left Garin knocked out, who ended up on the ground after this attack. The Chilean was attended to by staff, and his opponent went to see him while he was lying on the field.

Despite the violent aggression, Bergs only received a warning, while Garin refused to return to the court, so the umpire ended up giving the victory to Belgium.

Garin's discussion with the chair umpire

The tennis player confronted the head referee, the Portuguese Carlos Ramos, for not applying a severe penalty to the Belgian. "You don't have the balls to throw him out. Throw me out, throw me out. I'm not going to play because you don't have the balls to throw him out, but you do have them to throw me out," he demanded of Ramos.

"Someone hit me, my head was spinning after three hours of playing. I have never experienced anything like this in my life. Never. You don't have any balls," he vented. "He hit me, he knocked my head, I fell to the ground, I fainted. I had never fainted in my life before!" argued the Chilean tennis player.

All this while the audience and the Chilean bench expressed their support for Garin. Coach Nicolás Massú spoke with the referee and told him that if he didn't feel well, Cristian was not going to continue playing. Minutes after this discussion, the ITF announced a penalty point for Chile.

Belgium won the series 3-1 and will now face Australia in the second round.

Later, the doctor of the Chilean Davis Cup team indicated that Garin suffered an eye injury, which caused inflammation, difficulty seeing, nausea, and headaches.

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