Tennis-Belgium's Darcis injures ankle weeks before Davis Cup final

Oct 22 (Reuters) - Belgium suffered a scare with the Davis Cup final looming when Steve Darcis was forced to retire from his match at the Stockholm Open with a left ankle injury. The 31-year-old Darcis, who will be needed for the final against Britain in Ghent next month, was trailing 6-1 2-0 to Richard Gasquet when he quit having been on court for 32 minutes. There was no immediate word about how serious the injury was. At 81 in the ATP standings, Darcis is Belgium's second-highest ranked player behind world number 16 David Goffin. Darcis, who once beat Rafa Nadal at Wimbledon, won the deciding rubber against Argentina in a thrilling semi-final, beating Federico Delbonis. Belgium are in the Davis Cup final for the first time since 1904 when they lost to Britain. They were also in the semi-finals in 1999. (Reporting by Martyn Herman; editing by Toby Davis)