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topicnews · September 12, 2024

Tennis men take big steps towards Davis Cup finals

Tennis men take big steps towards Davis Cup finals

The German Davis Cup team is close to reaching the final round of the top eight after a coup against Chile. Thanks to Maximilian Marterer and Yannick Hanfmann, the men’s tennis team secured their second victory in the second group match in Zhuhai, China. After the two singles matches, the heavily weakened selection already had an unassailable 2-0 lead.

First, Marterer clearly dominated against Chile’s substitute Tomas Barrios Vera with 6:1, 6:3. Then Hanfmann surprised with a strong performance against world number 22 Alejandro Tabilo and prevailed 7:5, 6:4.

The overall victory had already been secured in the 3-0 win against Slovakia on Tuesday before the final doubles match between US Open finalists Tim Pütz and Kevin Krawietz. On paper, Chile was the strongest team in the group. However, the South Americans lost their opening match against the USA and played against the Germans in the singles without top 30 player Nicolas Jarry and former top 20 professional Cristian Garin.

Hopeful chance to make it into the top eight is getting closer

Two wins could be enough to advance. This would mean 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 wins against Slovakia, the team would no longer be in the top two spots 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 there is likely to look different.

At the much-criticized venue Zhuhai, Hanfmann and Marterer have so far convincingly made up for the cancellations of the top German players. Team boss Michael Kohlmann has to do without world number two Alexander Zverev as well as the two injured Jan-Lennard Struff and Dominik Koepfer.

In the final third group match in China, the German Tennis Association team will face the USA on Saturday (8:00 a.m. CEST/DF1/DAZN and TennisChannel).

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