Netherlands beats BiH in Davis Cup

Netherlands beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-1 in the first group of Euro-African zone at the Davis Cup at City Arena on Sunday.

On the third day of the men's tennis team competition here, Dutch player Robin Haase edged past Damir Dzumhur 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 2-6 and 6-4 in the fourth rubber and sent the Netherlands into the world group play-offs. The fifth rubber was not played as it would not have affected the final outcome.

"I was in the good mood, but Damir is a great fighter. He forces you to hit each ball, and the most dangerous is when he gets into your head and reads your every move," said Haase, who ranked 48th in the world.

Dzumhur, however, already set his sight on next year's competition.

"There were little bit of luck for him, but in the end he deserved to win. We really struggled how much we could. We should next year fight in the first group of Euro-African zone," said Damir who throughout the match had a heated discussion with the judge, the supervisor, and the Dutch coach Paul Haarhuis.

On Friday, Dzumhur leveled for Bosnia 1-1 after beating Thiemo de Bekker. However, Netherlands took the 2-1 lead with Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer beating BiH Mirza Basic and Tomislav Brkic. Endit