Davis Cup discussions planned with top stars

Zizou Bergs, named after a French sporting great, was a Davis Cup hero for Belgium on day one in Bologna

Belgium beat France in the opening match of the Davis Cup Finals, as organisers confirmed talks will take place about the tournament's future format amid the absence of several top players from this year's event.

The 86th-ranked Raphael Collignon battled back to upset French world number 35 Corentin Moutet 2-6 7-5 7-5.

That allowed team-mate Zizou Bergs - who was famously named after France football great Zinedine Zidane - to set up a semi-final against Italy or Austria with a 6-3 7-6 (7-4) victory over Arthur Rinderknech.

World number one Carlos Alcaraz announced earlier on Tuesday that he had withdrawn from Spain's team because of an injury sustained on Sunday at the ATP Finals.

That left Germany's Alexander Zverev as the only top-10 men's singles player competing in this year's Davis Cup showpiece week.

While injury has prevented some from representing their nation, other players - including Italian world number two Jannik Sinner - have chosen to maximise their recovery time at the beginning of the sport's six-week off-season.

Both Alcaraz and Sinner have suggested they would be in favour of making the Davis Cup a biennial event.

International Tennis Federation (ITF) chief executive Ross Hutchins told BBC Sport he will consult the sport's top players to explore what the tournament can do to encourage their participation in the final major event of the season.

"The history of this event is a very, very popular team competition which has been - consistently across the last 125 years - a yearly event," Hutchins said.

"We have a three-year deal in Bologna, which we are very excited about. Malaga worked very well the last few years as a season-end product - top players playing, amazing narratives - so the question is, what's right moving forward?

"I do have very close relations with the top players and the governing bodies, so I'm going to be having discussions about their points of view.

"We know what's been written, and what's been said, so inevitably I will have those conversations and we can take it from there."

Belgium have been Davis Cup runners-up three times, and Raphael Collignon gave them a strong start against France

On the court, Moutet captured the first set against Collignon after racing into a 4-0 lead with a double break of serve.

But the 26-year-old Frenchman had only himself to blame when he was taken to a decider, losing his serve - and the second set - after falling 15-30 behind as an unnecessary trick shot at the net did not come off, with Collignon already walking away from the court.

That proved a costly error as Collignon increased the pressure in the final set, with the 23-year-old eventually ending Moutet's resistance in the 12th game after the Belgian had been unable to take his first four break points.

Belgium appeared set for a straightforward victory as 26-year-old Bergs took control, leading Rinderknech by a set and a break - until he was broken by the French number one for the first time as he served for the match at 5-4.

Rinderknech, 30, was reinvigorated, but Bergs reset to force a tie-break and then seized his second match point before running to celebrate with his team.

On the other half of the draw, Spain will play the Czech Republic, while Argentina face Germany.

Analysis: Absent Britain must show they 'deserve' to challenge elite

Great Britain are not involved this week after losing 3-2 to Japan in February's first qualifying round.

But Leon Smith's side gave themselves a chance of reaching next year's season-closing event by beating Poland in an away eliminator in September.

Doubles specialists Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool, who have recently been crowned year-end world number ones, believe it is imperative that Britain demonstrate they can challenge the elite in 2026.

"We're an incredibly strong nation and sometimes we get a bit of hate because we have a Slam and the LTA is financially better off than a lot of the federations out there," Cash told BBC Sport.

"We have a lot of very good players, even below the Davis Cup level, and I think from the standard we've got – both singles and doubles – [the Finals] is where we deserve to be. But you have to earn that every year."

Britain last won the Davis Cup when the talismanic Andy Murray led them to glory in 2015, reaching the semi-finals again in 2019 before quarter-final appearances in 2021 and 2023.

This year's bid was hampered by an injury for British number one Jack Draper - who reached a career-high fourth in the world later in this season - which ruled him out of the Japan tie.

"Injuries are a big part of it," said Cash, "so we hope everyone can stay fit and if some of the other guys need to get called up then hopefully they can put their best performance out there."