The German men’s tennis team has the best chance of qualifying for the Davis Cup finals in Malaga. It is surprising that they are in such an excellent starting position after two group matches.
Yannick Hanfmann hugged team manager Michael Kohlmann and, grinning mischievously, high-fived his tennis colleague Maximilian Marterer. Thanks to strong performances by the players in the back row, the German tennis men are very close to making it to the Davis Cup finals of the top eight. The coup against the favored Chile puts the team, which is severely weakened by a lack of replacements, in an excellent starting position.
First, Marterer clearly dominated Chile’s substitute Tomas Barrios Vera with 6:1, 6:3. Then Hanfmann surprised world number 22 Alejandro Tabilo and won 7:5, 6:4. This made the second victory in the second group match perfect. “I played a really good match,” said Hanfmann.
Zverev and Co. not in China
“Two times 2:0 – what is that?” asked team captain Michael Kohlmann before the final doubles match against the South Americans. The 50-year-old had to do without not only top player Alexander Zverev at the heavily criticized Chinese venue Zhuhai, but also the injured Jan-Lennard Struff and Dominik Koepfer.
And yet, after a clear 3-0 win against Slovakia at the start of the group matches on Tuesday, his team also held its own against Chile without any problems. US Open finalists Tim Pütz and Kevin Krawietz are once again under no pressure in the final doubles match.
“The planning is a disaster. Unfortunately, we can’t change it, we have no influence on it,” Krawietz complained about the organizers’ scheduling of the international team competition. The duo arrived in China from New York late after losing the final at the US Open. The host is not represented in the group and was nevertheless awarded the contract by the world association to host the event.
Progression can be assured on Friday
Two wins could be enough for the Germans to advance. This means that Germany could already be guaranteed a place in the finals in Malaga, Spain, on Friday, when they have no games to play. If the USA can hold their own against Slovakia, the team would be guaranteed one of the top two places in the group. Eight nations will play for the prestigious title in Malaga from November 19 to 24.
If they qualify, the German line-up will probably look different. In Zhuhai, Hanfmann and Marterer have so far convincingly made up for the cancellations of the top German players.
Marterer: “super-happy” and “super-motivated”
On paper, Chile was the strongest team in the group. However, the Chileans lost their opening match against the USA and faced the Germans in the singles without top 30 player Nicolas Jarry and former top 20 professional Cristian Garin.
“I arrived here in pretty good shape,” said Marterer after his convincing victory: “I’m super happy to be able to bring this level to the court in the first two matches. I feel super motivated.”
In the best case scenario, the final third group match will no longer play a role in qualifying for the final round. The German Tennis Association team will play against the USA on Saturday (8:00 a.m. CEST/DF1/DAZN and TennisChannel).
Source: Stern
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