Sarajevo (Bosnia), Apr 10 (IANS): The Netherlands defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-1 in the first group of the Euro-African zone at the Davis Cup tennis competition.

On the third day of the men's tennis team competition here on Sunday, Dutch player Robin Haase edged past Damir Dzumhur 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 2-6 and 6-4 in the fourth rubber and sent the Netherlands into the world group play-offs. The fifth rubber was not played as it would not have affected the final outcome, reports Xinhua news agency.

"I was in the good mood, but Damir is a great fighter. He forces you to hit each ball, and the most dangerous is when he gets into your head and reads your every move," said Haase, who ranked 48th in the world.

Dzumhur has already set his sights on next year's competition.

"There was little bit of luck for him, but in the end he deserved to win. We really struggled how much we could. We should next year fight in the first group of Euro-African zone," said Dzumhur who throughout the match had a heated discussion with the judge, the supervisor, and Dutch coach Paul Haarhuis.