Netherlands claim third BNP Paribas World Team Cup quad title

Sam Schroder and Niels Vink secured the first leg of a possible repeat trio of titles for Netherlands at the 2022 BNP Paribas World Team Cup, the top seeds earning a 2-0 win over first-time finalists South Africa in the Quad World Group final in Vilamoura, Portugal.

Former and current world No. 2 players Schroder and Lucas Sithole met for the second time this week in the opening singles match, Schroder earning the first service hold to open a 4-2 lead, which soon became 6-2 as Sithole overhit a forehand return on set point.

A Sithole double fault handed Schroder a 3-0 second set lead and after missing his mark with a forehand to end the first set, the former US Open champion overhit a backhand to give Schroder his 6-2 6-0 victory. Schroder also beat Sithole 6-0 6-0 in the round-robin group phase earlier in the week.

The second singles contest was a much more competitive affair – at least for the first set, which lasted an hour and 27 minutes, with world No. 1 Vink and Donald Ramphadi trading service breaks and service holds throughout.

At 5-4 up, Vink earned his first set point and he had another at 6-5, which was expertly saved by Ramphadi before the South African world No. 7 forced the tie-break.

However, Vink would not be denied in what was by far his toughest assignment of the week, and his patience was rewarded when he slotted a forehand down the line past Ramphadi to wrap up the opening set.

Vink broke to love for a 2-1 second set lead, by which time Ramphadi’s resilience seemed to be waning, and so it proved. Despite saving two match points Ramphadi ended a commendable effort on a double fault, Vink taking the victory 7-6(4) 6-1 to give Netherlands their third BNP Paribas World Team Cup quad title.

“I had to reset after the first set because it was a long one and a tough one, but I stayed calm and I think that was the key to winning the second set,” said Vink, who beat Ramphadi 6-3 6-4 when they met in their round-robin group match earlier this week.

“I’m really happy to win the World Team Cup title again with my Dutch team and hopefully also the women and men can take the win again this year.”

With South Africa’s quads having become the first African team to reach a World Team Cup final and ending with the silver medal, Brazil completed the medal podium after beating nine-time champions USA 2-0 to win bronze.