Monaco has made tennis history.
On Saturday, September 19, the Principality secured a place in the Davis Cup Qualifiers with a 3-1 away victory over Finland, an unprecedented achievement for Monegasque tennis.
The tie had gotten off to a difficult start on Friday.
Lucas Catarina, who briefly came out of retirement for the occasion, suffered a heavy 6-0, 6-3 defeat to world No. 108 Otto Virtanen.
But Valentin Vacherot quickly brought Monaco level.
The world No. 21 defeated world No. 446 Eero Vasa 6-3, 7-6 to leave the tie finely poised heading into Saturday.
Monaco Holds Its Nerve
The pressure was on Romain Arneodo and Hugo Nys in the doubles.
A win would put Monaco ahead and leave the team one victory away from qualification.
The Monegasque pair lost the opening set 6-3 to Niklas-Salminen and Heliövaara, the latter ranked world No. 1 in doubles.
But Arneodo and Nys kept their composure, taking the second set 6-4 before completing the comeback with a 6-3 victory in the third.
That left Vacherot with the chance to finish the job.
He did so, although not without a fight, winning his singles match in three sets, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4.
The victory gave Monaco an unassailable 3-1 lead and secured the Principality a historic place in the Davis Cup Qualifiers, among the competition’s leading nations.