• Australia beat Belgium 3-0 on the opening day of the Davis Cup finals group round.
• Rookie Jason Kubler and Alex de Minaur score decisive points for Australia.
• The doubles match between Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell won 6-1, 6-3.

Jason Kubler and Alex de Minaur set up Australia’s 3-0 victory over Belgium on the first day of the Davis Cup finals group round on Tuesday.

In the opening Group C match in Hamburg, Germany, rookie Jason Kubler outdueled 134th-ranked Zizou Bergs by scores of 6-4, 1-6, and 6-3.

After losing the second set, Kubler, rated 97th, went on a five-game winning streak to score Australia’s first point while behind 1-3 in the third set.

“I’m over the moon that I was able to deliver today but we may not have been in this position if it were not for Jason Kubler who came out on his debut and pulled a rabbit out of the hat,” said de Minaur.

“He played with passion and pride and showed everything that Davis Cup is about. He got the win which gave us a 1-0 lead which I thought was huge.”

De Minaur defeated David Goffin 6-2, 6-2 in one hour and six minutes to earn the decisive point for the 28-time Davis Cup champions.

In their four encounters, 62-ranked Goffin, a semifinalist in the Davis Cup in 2015 and 2017, has never defeated 22nd-ranked Minaur.

In the doubles match, Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell defeated Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen 6-1, 6-3.

On Wednesday, the Germans face France to begin their Group C campaign before playing Belgium and Australia.

Tuesday’s games in Groups A and B are Argentina vs. Sweden in Group A, Canada vs. South Korea in Group B, and Kazakhstan vs. the Netherlands in Group D.

Nations compete in two singles matches, followed by a doubles match, all in a best-of-three style, in the last-16 group stage.

From November 22 to November 27 in Malaga, the Davis Cup group matches’ top two teams advance to the round of eight.

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