For the first German Davis Cup title since 1993, the German Tennis Association is hoping that top player Alexander Zverev will return to the team. “I think that in order to really hold up this salad bowl, everything has to fit together – from the players, from A to Z in the end,” said team manager Michael Kohlmann (50) to the German Press Agency. “In the end, we all have big goals, not just us as an association, but also the boys. And everyone wants to win this Davis Cup again at some point.”
In Zhuhai, China, the German team, with a severely weakened squad, managed to qualify for the finals in Malaga, Spain, from November 19 to 24. The DTB justified the absence of world number two Zverev from the group phase shortly after the US Open in New York with travel strains. This would have been so great for Zverev because the German number one is playing in the Laver Cup in Berlin next week.
Can Struff and Koepfer be there again?
The injured Jan-Lennard Struff and Dominik Koepfer were also unavailable. “We definitely hope that we can gain one or two players in Malaga. We’ll have to wait and see who that will be,” said Kohlmann.
After two opening victories against Slovakia and Chile (3-0 each), the German team lost 1-2 to the USA at the end of the group phase and only gained a point thanks to the successful doubles pairing of Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz. The duo had reached the final at the US Open. In addition to Krawietz/Pütz, the selection in Zhuhai also included Yannick Hanfmann, Maximilian Marterer and Henri Squire.
The team finished second in the group behind the USA and will face a group winner in the quarter-finals in Malaga. The draw will take place on Thursday.
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