There had already been some moments of controversy, including an altercation between France and Brazil’s Davis Cup players.

Serbia’s Davis Cup team had also received criticism due to their actions after being beaten by Denmark in Copenhagen.

Perhaps the biggest moment of controversy was still to come, as Zizou Bergs and Cristian Garin collided in the latter stages of their match.

ITF referee makes statement after controversial incident in Davis Cup tie between Chile and Belgium

With the tie still in the balance, Garin was attempting to keep Chile in the contest against Bergs in the Belgian city of Hasselt.

However, things took a turn in the deciding set when Bergs got an all important break to go 6-5 up, to which he did a big celebration and charged towards the umpires chair, only to run straight into Garin.

Garin fell straight to the ground and appeared to be in some discomfort, before making his way off court.

This resulted in Chile receiving a controversial game penalty due to a time violation, ultimately costing them the match and subsequently the tie.

Due to the unprecedented nature of the incident and the strong reaction from both fans and players, ITF (International Tennis Federation) referee Carlos Ramos was called to an unlikely press conference to explain his side of the situation.

“I consider see it was a very unfortunate accident, caused unfortunately by a player without any intention,” Ramos said. “Nothing that happened during the match would make anybody think it was not accident.”

Garin, who is a former world number 17, has also released a statement of his own on Instagram to show his disapproval at the situation.

In a translated message from Spanish, Garin called out the umpire and ITF for trying to make him continue to play after what had happened.

“I still can’t believe we got DISQUALIFIED,” said Garin. “That the umpire forced me to play with dizziness and unable to see well after 2h40 minutes playing at high intensity.

“Years of loving this sport watching millions of matches and I never seen, nor thought about living something like this.

“So sad after all the week’s effort and all the teamwork. Thanks to the ITF for ZERO CONCERN FOR MY HEALTH. Thanks to all (Chilean flag). Hard moment but we keep going.”

Despite Garin’s disapproval at the situation, Chile will now drop down to the World Group I, while Belgium take a step closer to the Davis Cup Finals with Australia standing in their way.

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