France won their 10th Davis Cup title when Lucas Pouille crushed Steve Darcis 6-3, 6-1, 6-0 to give the hosts a 3-2 victory in the final against neighbours Belgium on Sunday.
Images from Day one of the 2019 Davis Cup at La Caja Magica in Madrid on Monday
The magnificent Murrays, Andy and Jamie, put Britain within touching distance of a first Davis Cup triumph for 79 years with a doubles victory over Belgium duo David Goffin and Steve Darcis in Ghent on Saturday.
World No.1 Rafael Nadal will begin his Wimbledon campaign against Slovakian Martin Klizan on Centre Court on Tuesday hoping to ease the painful memories of his past two years in southwest London.
Rafael Nadal, like Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, is a great believer in mutual respect. The leading quartet on the men's circuit do not indulge in slanging matches.
Wimbledon has witnessed some seismic shocks down the years but few could top twice champion Rafa Nadal's elimination at the hands of Steve Darcis, a Belgian ranked 135th in the world, in the first round on Monday. Here are six other matches that shook up Wimbledon.
The archetypal journeyman player, who has battled through a series of injuries in a long and not especially fruitful career, Belgian Steve Darcis could not have looked happier as he reflected on the shock upset he had produced on Wimbledon's opening day.
David Goffin and Steve Darcis staged a thrilling comeback on Sunday to take Belgium into their second Davis Cup final in three years with a 3-2 victory over Australia.
Sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych lost in straight sets to Steve Darcis of Belgium on Saturday in the first round of Olympic play at Wimbledon.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic defeated Belgium's Steve Darcis 6-0, 7-5 on Monday to power into the last 16 of the Miami Open.
Here's a look at Nadal's other early exits from the tournament:
Australia has pinned its hopes on ageing warhorse Lleyton Hewitt to steer the country back into the Davis Cup's world group, naming him in both singles and doubles for their playoff against Belgium in Cairns this week.
Leander Paes remained on course for his second successive Grand Slam title after reaching the men's doubles pre-quarterfinals of the Australian Open with partner Lukas Dlouhy in Melbourne on Saturday.
Top seed Andy Murray quickly found his feet on grass at Queen's Club on Wednesday, posting a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Italy's Andreas Seppi to reach the third round of the Wimbledon warm-up tournament.
Belgian Steve Darcis captured his second career title by upsetting eighth seed Robin Soderling 6-3, 7-6 to win the Memphis Championship on Sunday.
The second seeds Indian pair beat the Argentine combine of Juan Martin Del Potro and Guillermo Canas 6-7, 6-3, 10-7 in an hour and 44 minutes in the semi-finals at 's-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands.
Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic beat Belgium's Steve Darcis 6-4, 6-0 in the second round of the Rome Masters on Wednesday, while top-10 seeds David Nalbandian and David Ferrer were knocked out.
Leander Paes and Scott Lipksy faced stiff resistance from Steve Darcis and Gilles Muller before sealing a quarter-final berth at the ATP 250 Ricoh Open on Monday.
Rafael Nadal returned to Davis Cup action for the first time in two years on Friday with his victory putting Spain ahead in a Group One relegation playoff against Denmark.
American Sam Querry became the latest Wimbledon giant slayer on Saturday as he beat defending champion Novak Djokovic 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 7-6(5) in the third round. The defeat ended Djokovic's run of winning 30 consecutive grand slam matches. The world number one had arrived at the All England Club as the reigning champion at all four grand slam tournaments.
A year after losing to Czech Lukas Rosol in the second round, French Open champion Rafael Nadal was outplayed by the 135th-ranked Steve Darcis on Court One, losing 7-6(4), 7-6(8), 6-4 in front of a disbelieving crowd at Wimbledon.
Organisers played a wrong national anthem for Moldova ahead of their tie against Belgium in Sydney. Denis Shapovalov won the battle of the next generation against Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas to help Canada to an emphatic 3-0 victory in the inaugural ATP Cup men's team event in Brisbane on Friday.
Belgium's chances of claiming a maiden Davis Cup title against hosts France remained intact after Friday's opening singles, in which David Goffin made a huge impression, were tied 1-1.
After all, he has been champion there twice, is bang in form after a record-stretching 12th French Open, is injury free and last year was a whisker away from reaching the final.
It ended a woeful few days for reigning champions Croatia. They left with two losses.
Brothers Jamie and Andy Murray claimed a tense four-hour doubles rubber against Australian pair Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth on Saturday to put Britain 2-1 up and on the verge of a first Davis Cup final since 1978.
Roger Federer kept up his sprint through the early rounds of the US Open on Thursday, steamrolling Steve Darcis of Belgium 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 to reach the third round of the year's final Grand Slam.
'You'd also be wrong if you tried to lump me in the same category as Bernard Tomic'
Korean qualifier Hyeon Chung produced the first upset of the ATP Chennai Open by ousting last year's finalist Borna Coric with a straight-set win in the opening round of the $505730 hard court event in Chennai on Monday.
David Goffin put the visitors ahead by beating Lucas Pouille in the opening singles before Jo-Wilfried Tsonga levelled for 1-1 when he defeated Steve Darcis in the second singles on Friday.
Rafael Nadal is adamant that he will not be discouraged by the memory of recent Wimbledon woes as he prepares to follow up his landmark 10th French Open triumph with a third success on the sport's most storied lawns.
When it comes to producing the raucous atmospheres which help make the Davis Cup unique among tennis events, few do it as well as the Belgians who have reached two of the last three finals, losing on both occasions.
Bautista Agut played in Spain's victories over Russia and Croatia but left the team and returned to Castellon after the health of his father Joaquin deteriorated.
Friday's showdown will be the 40th meeting between the duo with Rafael Nadal leading 24-15 and 10-3 in Grand Slams.
Roger Federer guided Switzerland to victory in their Davis Cup World Group playoff tie against the Netherlands with an easy 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Thiemo de Bakker on Sunday.
World number one Novak Djokovic survived a second set fightback from Slovak Martin Klizan before winning his opening match at the Miami Open 6-0, 5-7, 6-1.
'I'm feeling good...Expectations are always high. I am not here to play the tournament; I am here to try to have a good result'
Nadal, is known to have a superior win-loss record over most top players (including Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic), but believe it or not, there are players on the circuit who have an edge over Nadal.
It was a clearly deflated Rafa Nadal who admitted he has no idea whether he can ever reproduce the form that helped him win two Wimbledon titles after maverick Dustin Brown inflicted a fourth successive embarrassment.
A 30-year-old German journeyman who once travelled around Europe's Challenger Circuit in a camper van joined a list of Wimbledon luminaries who go by the names of Lukas Rosol, Steve Darcis and Nick Kyrgios.
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