site.btaBulgaria Defeats Romania to Return to Davis Cup World Group I

Bulgaria secured a 3-1 victory against Romania in Craiova, earning promotion to World Group I of the Davis Cup, the unofficial world championship in men's tennis.

The decisive point came from Adrian Andreev, who returned to the team and defeated Romania’s top player Filip Cristian Jianu 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 after 2 hours and 46 minutes.

Andreev staged a comeback in the first set, winning five consecutive games after trailing 1-3. Jianu levelled the match in the second set after breaking serve in the sixth game. In the final set, Andreev took an early lead at 3-0 and controlled the match to claim victory.

Despite battling a severe flu in the past week, Andreev displayed remarkable determination to secure the win.

Earlier in the day, Alexander Donski and Petr Nesterov won the doubles match, defeating Gabi Boitan and Victor Cornea 6-3, 6-3, putting Bulgaria ahead 2-1.

On the first day, Iliyan Radulov defeated Filip Cristian Jianu 6-3, 7-6(3) to equalize the score after Petr Nesterov lost a hard-fought match against Cezar Cretu 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-7(3).

Bulgaria’s team included Adrian Andreev (ATP No. 233), Petr Nesterov (ATP No. 437), Yanaki Milev (ATP No. 487), Iliyan Radulov (ATP No. 533), and Alexander Donski (ATP No. 230 in doubles, No. 750 in singles), led by captain Valentin Dimov and assistant coach Tihomir Grozdanov.

Bulgaria last played in World Group I in February 2023, but after a loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2024, the team was relegated to World Group II. With this win, Bulgaria returns to Group I after just one year.