Australia is no more in the 2025 Davis Cup. They were stunned by Belgium, whose top player, Raphael Collignon, is ranked No. 91 on the ATP tour. Still, Collignon was all his nation needed to shock No. 8 Alex de Minaur and then defeat Aleksandar Vukic in the final of the Australian and Belgian tie.
The Aussies didn't have Alexei Popyrin but were still the heavy favorite to beat Belgium. The depth of the Australian roster far exceeded what their opponents had to offer. However, the depth not playing a real part is part of what makes competitions like the Davis Cup so great.
A team just needs one hot player, and the outcome can be changed. That hot player was Collignon.
Davis Cup shocks, Laver Cup changes, and Boris Becker's new book
In other Davis Cup action, the United States was bounced by Czechia after Frances Tiafoe lost to Jakub Mensik in the fifth (and deciding) match. Mensik is a player still growing into his greatness, while Tiafoe has been struggling for much of the last year. The final match wasn't overly close with the Czech player winning 6-1 6-4.
In other team competition, though one not related specifically to nations, the Laver Cup rosters are getting an update. Tiafoe is out for the tournament that features Team World versus Team Europe from September 19 through 21 at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
In the American's place is de Minaur. The rest of Team World, captained by Andre Agassi, is Taylor Fritz, Francisco Cerundolo, Alex Michelsen, João Fonseca, and Reilly Opelka.
Team Europe, captained by Yannick Noah, will feature Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud, Holger Rune, Flavio Cobolli, and Mensik. Team Europe will be the heavy favorite to win the event.
Boris Becker doesn't have a Laver Cup record because he never competed in the tournament. That means you won't read about it in his new book, Inside: Winning. Losing. Starting Again, but what you will read about is how the tennis great winning Wimbledon at 17 set him on a road to ruin. Somewhat.
Becker wrote, "When you're suddenly so famous at 17, it feels like you suddenly belong to someone else. The German press told me how I should live and what I should do. If I hadn't won Wimbledon at 17, none of this would have happened. Then I wouldn't have had this trust in older men to handle my business, nor the habit of letting others manage my finances."
In other words, Becker's tome should be a fun read. The book is set to be released on Setember 25.