Chile, Israel, Russia and Netherlands wrapped up their BNP Paribas World Team Cup Qualification campaigns with final triumphs as the event came to a close in Vilamoura, Portugal.

Chile and Israel won the two men’s draws while Russia and the Netherlands won the women’s and quad draws respectively, as ten teams across the three events earned their places at the ITF’s flagship wheelchair tennis team competition in Sardinia in October, including all four men’s finalists.

Top seeds Israel, three-time finalists at the European Qualification since 2012 – including in Vilamoura in 2018 – finally came out on top in a men’s draw after defeating Poland 2-0.

Guy Sasson beat Maksymilian Szary 6-2 6-0 to give Israel the perfect start before Adam Berdichevsky wrapped up the victory with his first career win over Kamil Fabisiak in eight attempts, prevailing 7-5 6-3.

“First of all, I am really happy for Israel taking the first place in a qualification event for the first time,” said Kobi Wiener, chairman of wheelchair tennis in Israel. “It was hard work for the players, who came with a new coach, and we now we look forward to the World Team Cup in Sardinia. It is great to be in the World Team Cup again after the COVID-19 situation and it makes up happy after Israel hosted the World Team Cup in 2019.

“For Adam it is the first time he has won against Fabisiak and for Guy, playing for the first time in the qualification, he worked hard to win all his games,” added Wiener. “For Asi [Stokol] it’s the first time to take first place after playing in the qualification event for so many years.”

Having won the men’s event at the Americas Qualification in January 2020 before the pandemic brought the suspension of the wheelchair tennis calendar, Chile proved more than equal to the challenge of playing in a bigger qualification draw this year as the fourth seeds defeated second seeds Austria 2-0.

Brayan Tapia’s 3-6 6-3 6-3 win over Joseph Riegler saw Tapia drop a set for just the first time in his three matches in Vilamoura, while Alexander Cataldo made it two wins in two career matches against Nico Langmann, taking their latest encounter 6-2 6-1.

“I am 100% satisfied with what has been done this week,” Cataldo said. “It was very good overall as a team. Our captain helped us a lot. Nico is a great rival that I admire a lot. In the singles we put a lot of weight on the ball and fought for every point as if it were the last.

“It is a rich sensation, a sensation of achievement, since we had won the position last year, and this year we proved that we remain strong despite the pandemic. The pandemic made me realise that if I set out to do something, I could do it – it lifted my confidence a lot. I was able to analyse the players in general on the tour, so now it's time to put everything into practice and continue building that confidence.”

Netherlands wrap perfect week in Portugal

The quad final featured a masterclass from world No. 3 and reigning US Open champion Sam Schroder and world No. 6 Niels Vink as Netherlands beat second seeds Brazil 3-0.

Vink’s 6-0 6-0 win over Leandro Pena preceded a clash between Schroder and world No. 10 Ymanitu Silva that Schroder dominated to win 6-0 6-2, before the Dutch duo won 12 successive games in the doubles.

“I think Niels and I both played really good singles matches and in doubles we also came together well,” said Schroder. “We’re really happy to be able to beat them 3-0 and we’re now back into the World Team Cup and I really look forward to playing there again.”

Vink was equally as satisfied by the nature of the Dutch victory.

“In the doubles we tried a different game plan today and it went really well,” he said. “But, as Sam said, in the singles we also both played really good and it was a great tournament for both of us and good preparation for Sardinia.”

Meanwhile, three-time European Qualification champions Russia left Vilamoura as winners of the women’s event. Runners-up to Great Britain in Vilamoura in 2018 before beating Italy in the 2019 final, Russia were awarded a 2-0 victory this year after Germany were defaulted. 

With all four women’s semi-finalists having qualified for Sardinia, Brazil claimed third place in Vilamoura after defeating Turkey 2-0.