After a 1-1 draw after the first day, Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler lost the doubles 4-6,3-6 and then Dennis Novak to South Korea’s number one Kwon Soon-woo 5 in Seoul on Saturday: 7.5:7 to the crucial 1:3.
The last match was canceled because South Korea had made the decision prematurely. The winner of this international tennis match qualifies for the group phase of the final tournament from September 14th to 18th. Austria, on the other hand, is now fighting on September 16th and 17th. in the play-off against relegation to World Group I.
Novak gave the Austrians a perfect start in the away international match on hard court in Seoul on Friday. The Lower Austrian, who acted as the red-white-red number one in the absence of the convalescent Thiem, absolutely lived up to his role as favorite against Nam Ji-sung with a 6: 1.6: 4. Jurij Rodionov then lost to Korea’s number one, the world number 65. Kwon, with 5:7.4:6.
In the continuation on Saturday, Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler lost the first match of the second day with a 4:6,3:6 in doubles. Because Novak was already fighting to stay in the competition with an intermediate score of 1: 2.
Novak started the duel between the two number one players confidently and served well, especially in the early stages. The Lower Austrian missed four breakballs at 3: 2, at 5: 4 he was only two points away from winning the set. Novak was also unable to capitalize on the second option. The opponent promptly used one of his rare break chances to take a 6:5 lead and then served confidently to win the set.
Austria was even more with its back against the wall and Novak promptly found the second set very bad. After two quick breaks, the Austrian was already 0:3 behind before he was able to take the serve from his opponent. He then shortened to zero to 2: 3, with the third break ball Novak finally made the “comeback” to 4: 4.
In the most exciting phase of the match, which at this point lasted almost an hour and a quarter, Novak even managed the 5:4 lead despite 0:30 on his own serve. The nimble and tricky Kwon equalized to 5:5. The following game was decisive. Thanks to his speed, Kwon won several breakballs while Novak didn’t use a “sit” to win the game. The South Korean promptly got the break and then served to win the match. After that, Rodionov did not have to compete for the last individual.
The competition ended disappointingly for Jürgen Melzer as well. After 38 international matches as an active player, it was the first time as a captain for the Lower Austrian. The big goal was a win and reaching the attractive group stage again.
Source: Nachrichten
