Semifinals in Malaga: German Davis Cup team misses final

The German Davis Cup team missed its first final in 31 years. Without world number two Alexander Zverev, national coach Michael Kohlmann’s team had to admit defeat to the Netherlands 2-0 in Malaga. After Daniel Altmaier lost in a dramatic game against Botic van de Zandschulp 4:6, 7:6 (14:12), 3:6, Jan-Lennard Struff had to defeat Tallon Griekspoor 7:6 (7: 4), beaten 5:7, 4:6.

The last time Germany reached the final was in 1993. At that time, the selection of the German Tennis Federation, led by Michael Stich, won against Australia and brought the Davis Cup to Germany for the third time.

First final appearance for the Netherlands

In Malaga, Germany had to do without Zverev. The Tokyo Olympic champion decided against starting in the Davis Cup after a long season and went on vacation after the ATP Finals in Turin last week.

It is the Netherlands’ first ever participation in the final. In the quarter-finals, the Orange team had surprisingly already won against Spain and thus ended the career of tennis legend Rafael Nadal. In the final on Sunday, the Netherlands will face the winner of the second semi-final between Italy and Australia, who face each other on Saturday (1 p.m.).

Struff gets a break out of nowhere

Struff showed a concentrated performance for a long time against Griekspoor. The Davis Cup veteran didn’t initially show the pressure of having to win. Both players played their serves confidently in the first set, so the decision had to be made in a tiebreak. Struff showed strong nerves and won the first round after 38 minutes.

In the second set, both players initially showed no weakness in their own service. Then Struff suddenly had two break chances when the score was 4:3, but couldn’t take advantage of them. Instead, a little later he suffered a small phase of weakness on his serve and conceded the set equalizer out of nowhere.

Struff was shocked and lost his serve again at the beginning of the third set. From then on he chased after this break. Griekspoor showed strong nerves and brought victory to the finish. The successful German pair of Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz were no longer used.

Altmaier initially made too many mistakes

Altmaier showed a very strong fighting performance against van de Zandschulp. The 26-year-old had a hard time at first and struggled with nerves in what was only his fourth Davis Cup appearance. But from the middle of the second set he lost his nervousness and acted much more powerfully.

Van de Zandschulp, who surprisingly defeated Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals and thus ended the Spanish tennis legend’s career, had five chances to end the match in the tiebreak of the second set. But Altmaier held on and managed to equalize the set.

The momentum was now on Altmaier’s side, but at the beginning of the decisive round he had another weak phase, which van de Zandschulp took advantage of for an early break. Altmaier equalized again and gave his all. But van de Zandschulp made a few fewer mistakes in the end and took the win.