The dream of getting that title is still aliveGermany won the Davis Cup duel dramatically
The German Davis Cup team can continue to dream of its first victory since the days of Boris Becker and Michael Stich: Deep in the evening, the DTB doubles scored the decisive point to advance to the semifinals.
The German tennis team fought their way to the semifinals in dramatic fashion at the Davis Cup in Bologna. Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz won the decisive doubles duel with Argentina against Horacio Zeballos/Andres Molteni in a tiebreak thriller with 4:6, 6:4, 7:6 (12:10) and kept the dream of the first title in traditional national competition since 1993 alive.
Top player Alexander Zverev previously resisted the pressure and won his singles against Francisco Cerúndolo 6:4, 7:6 (7:3). After an opening loss to Jan-Lennard Struff 6:7 (3:7), 6:7 (7:9) against Tomás Martín Etcheverry, it was ultimately enough for the semi-finals.
With world-ranked Zverev in top spot, Germany is considered one of the favorites to win the title; in the last four, Saturday (12 noon/Tennis Channel and tennis.de) Spain awaits the team coached by national coach Michael Kohlmann. For Zverev, this is his first Davis Cup match since February 2023.
Massive ace series
Struff, on the other hand, is a Davis Cup veteran, and the 35-year-old started well in the atmospheric “SuperTennis Arena” at BolognaFiere’s Hall 37. Warsteiner, who recently gained new confidence with victory at the Challenger tournament in Lyon, recovered an early break midway through the first set. Etcheverry had the better nerve in the tiebreaker. The second half was exciting, both players showed no weakness when serving. Etcheverry served seven (!) aces in a row in the deciding phase – and was back ahead in the tiebreak.
Zverev, who has a 1:3 record against Cerúndolo on the tour, was very concentrated in the first set. In the second round, German strength weakened somewhat; when the score was 5:5, he angrily threw his racket to the ground. However, it wasn’t long before he won the match in the tiebreak.
Against a formidable Argentinian doubles team, Krawietz/Pütz were immediately punished for a slight weakness in the first set. As a result, the German duo fought back and achieved a big win in a tennis thriller.
