tennis
German Davis Cup team is eliminated against Switzerland
Daniel Altmaier lost the decisive single against the Swiss Stan Wawrinka. photo
© Harald Tittel/dpa
Germany’s tennis professionals had imagined it very differently. But because Alexander Zverev does not deliver as desired, the German team misses the group stage of the Davis Cup.
Disillusionment instead of euphoria: Alexander Zverev and the German Davis Cup team surprisingly missed the leap into the group phase of the traditional team competition.
The Olympic champion and his colleagues had to admit defeat in the qualification in Trier, Switzerland, with a score of 2:3 and are now only playing to remain in the world tennis group in the autumn. A progress would have meant lucrative group games that would have very likely taken place in Germany. An intermediate round was held in Hamburg last year.
The decisive factor for the end was Zverev’s surprising defeat in the top individual against Swiss Marc-Andrea Hüsler. One day after his convincing and encouraging performance against the veteran Stan Wawrinka, Zverev had a hard time against Hüsler from the start and had to admit defeat in the end 2: 6, 6: 7 (4: 7).
Altmaier loses crucial individual
In the decisive individual, debutant Daniel Altmaier showed a courageous performance after initial nervousness, but the 24-year-old was unable to take his chances in the third set and lost after 2:34 hours against Wawrinka 3:6, 7:5, 4:6.
Zverev didn’t look as fresh against Hüsler as on Friday and also had major problems with his service. “I wouldn’t say tired. I actually felt pretty good,” said Zverev. “But bitter as it is, there will unfortunately still be matches like this in my trial,” said the native of Hamburg, who is still looking for form after a month-long injury break.
Especially on the second serve, Zverev lacked the speed, which Hüsler used again and again to score easy points. “He went for everything he could,” Zverev praised the Swiss number one, who had already won in three sets against Oscar Otte on Friday.
Zverev improved a little in the second set and tried to find his way back into the match, supported by the 4000 spectators in the stands and tennis legend Boris Becker on the German bench. But even an early break did not bring him security. With a score of 4:5, he made eight points in a row out of nowhere, so that the decision had to be made in the tie-break. There Zverev let the serve down again, which Hüsler used for a surprising victory and to equalize.
Double success by Mies/Pütz worthless in the end
The great burden of averting the end lay on Altmaier. The Davis Cup newcomer was given preference by team manager Michael Kohlmann over Otte, who had made a battered impression after his fifth defeat in the fifth Davis Cup game on Friday. Altmaier showed a strong fighting performance against the veteran Wawrinka after losing the first set, but had to admit defeat in the end and sat on the bench with tears in his eyes.
The double success of Andreas Mies and Tim Pütz at the beginning of the day was worthless in the end. The German duo prevailed against the two Swiss Wawrinka and Dominic Stricker 6: 7 (3: 7), 6: 3, 6: 4. After the first day it was 1:1.