Successful Davis Cup comeback
Zverev leads the DTB team to victory in Brazil
3/6/2022 7:01 am
Alexander Zverev has not played for the German Davis Cup team since 2019, but a freak made the surprising comeback possible. And that’s where Germany’s best tennis player delivers: With two wins, he gets the points that lead to the final tournament via Brazil.
Olympic champion Alexander Zverev led the German tennis men into the group phase of the Davis Cup. The 24-year-old won the top singles match against Brazilian Thiago Monteiro 6-1, 7-5 in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday, earning the crucial third point for the German team in the first round game against Brazil. Zverev had already convinced on Friday in a clear two-set win against Thiago Seyboth Wild.
Since Jan-Lennard Struff then lost to Monteiro in three sets, the German team was under pressure on the second day in Rio de Janeiro’s Olympic Park. But the doubles Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz put the team of national coach Michael Kohlmann on the road to victory with a hard-fought 4:6, 7:6 (7:4), 6:4 against Felipe Meligeni Rodrigues Alves and Bruno Soares. “I think that was a very decisive match,” said Pütz. “It’s much more comfortable for Alexander to go on the pitch with a 2-1 lead behind him.”
And in fact, Zverev took the momentum of the double victory with him and didn’t give Monteiro a chance from the start. Zverev managed a quick break in the first set, so that the Brazilian didn’t even get into the situation of pushing the spectators and getting them over with like the day before against Struff. After just 32 minutes, Zverev secured the first set.
In the second round, Monteiro put up more resistance. When the score was 4: 5, Zverev even had to fend off a set ball, the audience was loud again and not always fair. But Zverev stayed calm and made the victory and progression perfect with the first match point. After that, the German number one immediately disappeared from Center Court without much jubilation. The fifth individual was not played after the decision.
“…then the doubles are of course very important”
Krawietz and Pütz initially had major problems with the difficult space conditions in the Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro. In the first set, Krawietz lost his serve, after 38 minutes the Brazilians took the first set. In the second set, however, the German duo improved and managed to equalize the set in the tie-break. Krawietz and Pütz, who had won all four games in last year’s finals, now had the upper hand and made the victory perfect with the first match point.
“It was a very difficult match, away in Brazil. If it’s 1-1, the doubles is of course very important,” said Krawietz after the win. “We stayed calm and survived the critical moments well.” The group stage will take place in September at four locations to be determined. The German Tennis Association is also considering an application to organize a group. The finals are currently scheduled for November.
