FRANKFURT, February 3, 2017

Alexander Zverev brought Germany level 1-1 after Day 1 of the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas first round tie against Belgium, held at the Fraport Arena in Frankfurt. The 19-year-old from Hamburg defeated Arthur de Greef 6:3, 6:3, 6:4.

Zverev fired 17 aces as well as 27 winners, and capitalized on four of his 11 break points to prevail in one hour and 43.

“It’s a very nice feeling but the reason why we are is to win the tie,” the youngster told after his first victory for Germany in the Davis Cup. “There are still two tough days ahead of us.”

Germany is bidding to reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 2014, having fallen in the first round in each of the last two years.

#GERBEL Here is the moment Alexander #Zverev pulled Germany level in the tie against Belgium with a striaght-sets win over Arthur #DeGreef! pic.twitter.com/C5qE9IAovD

— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) 3. Februar 2017

Darcis Fights Back

Steve Darcis celebrates Belgium`s 1-0 lead

Earlier the day, Steve Darcis took a thrilling opening rubber 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(5) against Philipp Kohlschreiber in the first fifth set tiebreak in the Davis Cup World Group.

The Belgian veteran won 10 points less than his opponent but withstood nine aces, hitting four of his own to celebrate victory after three hours and 53 minutes.

“This one was really tough. I was leading the first set and I was really down but in the end I am really happy to get through. It’s a great win to beat Philipp in Germany. The key is to fight and to fight and I could see he was a little bit tired. The atmosphere was great – that’s why we play Davis Cup. We are the underdog and we need three miracles to get through this tie,” Darcis was happy after his emotional win.

In Saturday’s doubles rubber, Jan-Lennard Struff and Mischa Zverev will take on Ruben Bemelmans and Joris de Loore.

Photo Gallery (by Thomas Schulte):