The German women’s team was relegated from the Billie Jean Cup world group

Complete embarrassment

“Destroyed”: The German tennis team is relegated

The Germans first lost against Turkey, then got lucky without doing anything – and then made mistakes again. What happened next?

German women’s tennis was relegated from the world group of the Billie Jean King Cup for the first time since 2012. In the second decisive playoff duel with Belgium, Ella Seidel also lost her singles 0:6, 4:6 against Hanne Vandewinkel; he was unable to withstand the immense pressure in his first national tournament.

After Anna-Lena Friedsam’s opening defeat, the very weak German Tennis Association (DTB) selection was already destined to win – with a 0-2 deficit, a move to the second division was now certain before the end of the final day.

“It’s of course very disappointing, everyone is devastated. We imagined it differently,” concluded team boss Rainer Schüttler, looking ahead: “It’s not easy to get promoted again. Of course everyone has to come together.”

Meanwhile, the former professional is leaving his future open. “We’re flat and empty for now. Then we’ll see.” Schüttler announced that he wanted to talk to the players in December. He has served as team boss since 2020 and said that he usually always has a one-year contract with DTB that is extended. “There are some small things that have to be changed,” he said. What he means is aspects such as training or organizing national team meetings.

The German women suffered their first setback on Sunday before their first appearance on court: German number one Eva Lys was unable to compete due to a thigh injury – following the short-term absences of Tatjana Maria and Laura Siegemund before the start of the tournament, the DTB team was missing all of its top 50 players. Lys surprisingly lost their game on Friday.

In front of 1,415 spectators at a sold-out tennis club in Ismaning, Friedsam fell behind early in the first singles, but recovered. His opponent was 13 years younger, but Friedsam showed great effort – coupled with many errors and problems with his own serve. Seidel, who came on later, looked overwhelmed at the start. In the second set he showed better stability, but was unable to turn things around.

The DTB selection was close to elimination on Saturday, but Belgium’s narrow 2-1 win over Türkiye delayed an early decision.