close
close

topicnews · September 12, 2024

Men’s tennis close to qualifying for Davis Cup finals

Men’s tennis close to qualifying for Davis Cup finals

Yannick Hanfmann hugged team manager Michael Kohlmann and grinned as he high-fived his tennis colleague Maximilian Marterer. Thanks to strong performances by the players in the back row, the German tennis men are very close to making it to the Davis Cup finals of the top eight. The coup against the favored Chile puts the team, which is severely weakened by a lack of replacements, in an excellent starting position.

First, Marterer clearly dominated against Chile’s substitute Tomas Barrios Vera with 6:1, 6:3. Then Hanfmann surprised the world number 22 Alejandro Tabilo and won 7:5, 6:4. This made the second victory in the second group match perfect. “I played a really good match,” said Hanfmann.

Zverev and Co. not in China

“Two times 2:0 – what is that?” asked team captain Michael Kohlmann before the final doubles match against the South Americans. The 50-year-old had to do without not only top player Alexander Zverev, but also the injured Jan-Lennard Struff and Dominik Koepfer at the Chinese venue Zhuhai, which was heavily criticized.

And yet, after a clear 3-0 win against Slovakia at the start of the group matches on Tuesday, his team also held its own against Chile without any problems. US Open finalists Tim Pütz and Kevin Krawietz are once again under no pressure in the final doubles match.

“The planning is a disaster. “Unfortunately, we can’t change it, we have no influence on it,” Krawietz complained about the organizers’ scheduling of the international team competition. The duo only arrived in China from New York late after losing the final at the US Open. The host is not represented in the group and was nevertheless awarded the tournament by the world association.

Progression can be assured on Friday

Two wins could be enough for the Germans 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 can beat 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 will probably look different. In Zhuhai, Hanfmann and Marterer have so far convincingly made up for the cancellations of the top German players.

Marterer: «super-happy» and «super-motivated»

On paper, Chile was the strongest team in the group. However, the Chileans lost their opening match against the USA and faced the Germans in the singles without top 30 player Nicolas Jarry and former top 20 professional Cristian Garin.

“I arrived here in pretty good shape,” said Marterer after his convincing victory: “I’m super happy to be able to bring this level to the court in the first two matches.” I feel super motivated.”

In the best case scenario, the final third group match will no longer play a role in qualifying for the final round. The German Tennis Association team will play against the USA on Saturday (8:00 a.m. CEST/DF1/DAZN and TennisChannel).

You may also like...