Intro:

Belgium drew level with Switzerland on Friday (6th March) in their Davis Cup first-round series.

Script:

Henri Laaksonen rallied from two sets down to beat Ruben Bemelmans and give the defending champions a 1-0 lead.

The 344th-ranked Laaksonen, playing in the team event for the first time since 2013, and won 1-6, 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 after Bemelmans started to cramp in the third set.

Laaksonen improved as the match went on while Bemelmans struggled to move and to chase balls. He tried to shorten the points, only to be punished at the net by his opponent's passing shots.

Bemelmans and Neils Desein are set to face Adrien Bossel and Lammer in Saturday's doubles.

Meanwhile in the second match, Steve Darcis defeated Michael Lammer in straight sets to help Belgium level its Davis Cup first-round series against defending champion Switzerland.

Darcis played aggressively from the start and saved the five break points he faced to produce a 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 victory against the only remaining member from the champion Swiss team.
Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka are skipping this best-of-five series after leading their country to its first title in 2014.

Belgium was also missing its top player after David Goffin withdrew because of a back injury although the 21st-ranked player could be fit in time to play in Sunday's reverse singles.