The German Davis Cup team is fighting for qualification for the finals in China despite a severe lack of replacements. Maximilian Marterer impressed with strong serve games in the opening match.
Thanks to Maximilian Marterer’s successful performance, the German Davis Cup men are only one point away from their hoped-for opening victory in China. The 29-year-old beat Lukas Klein 6:4, 7:5 in Zhuhai and put the heavily depleted German team in the lead against Slovakia. “I think it’s a huge relief for us,” said Marterer.
In extremely humid conditions at the Hengqin International Tennis Center, the left-hander earned the win with a concentrated performance. He benefited from a weaker serve and errors by world number 128 Klein at the beginning. Marterer, number 104 in the world, managed a break in the first game of the match. He successfully defended his lead thanks to strong serve games until he won the set.
Klein improved in the second set. But Marterer secured another break to make it 6:5 and remained calm and strong-nerved on his own serve in the tight situations at the end of the set.
Two chances for the decisive second point
Yannick Hanfmann will then face Jozef Kovalik. If Hanfmann loses, the doubles match between Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz will decide the match. Pütz and Krawietz had only arrived in China the evening before after reaching the doubles final of the US Open.
The fact that the ITF awarded the German group to China resulted in travel stress and a lot of criticism. “I think that the teams that are here now all agree that it is more or less nonsense to play here,” said team manager Michael Kohlmann.
In addition to Slovakia, Germany is fighting with Chile and the USA for one of the top two spots in the group. The two best teams in the group will advance to the finals in Malaga, Spain, in November.
The German Tennis Association will have to do without top player Alexander Zverev in the group phase, as well as the injured Jan-Lennard Struff and Dominik Koepfer.
Source: Stern
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