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Davis Cup thriller against Canada: Struff strong – but Germany misses the semifinals

Status: 25.11.2022 00:11

Disappointed faces shortly after midnight in Malaga: the German tennis men missed the semi-finals in the Davis Cup.

The team of national coach Michael Kohlmann, who started without top player Alexander Zverev, lost 2-1 to co-favorite Canada despite strong resistance. The super series broke in doubles. Kevin Krawietz/Tim Pütz (Coburg/Frankfurt) had to bow to Vasek Pospisil/Denis Shapovalov 6:2, 3:6, 3:6 in the decisive duel on the green hard court.

First defeat after 15 successes

Germany had previously celebrated 15 double wins in a row in the team competition. The strong point from Jan-Lennard Struff (Warstein) with a 6: 3, 4: 6, 7: 6 (7: 2) against Shapovalov was not enough in the end, Oscar Otte (Cologne) had to face Felix Auger-Aliassime 6 :7 (1:7), 4:6 beaten.

The last German triumph in the Davis Cup was in 1993, last year it was enough for the round of four, in which it was finally over against the eventual winner Russia, who is suspended this year.

Italy without its stars

Kohlmann’s team missed a good chance. The possible quarter-final opponent Italy, who now meets Canada after a 2-1 win against the USA, does not have its two top players Matteo Berrettini and Jannik Sinner with them.

Struff started the optimistic German team on Thursday (November 24th, 2022), once again showing his qualities as a team player. “It was very tough mentally, but I’m very happy to have gotten the first point. It’s great, we have a good atmosphere in the team.”, said the 32-year-old after his success on ServusTV. The outsider brought his match home after 2:05 hours, but only cheered briefly: “Nothing’s done yet.”

Otte kept up

Otte had the first chance to get the decisive second point, but had a very difficult task ahead of him in Auger-Aliassime, which he couldn’t solve. The Canadian won three tournaments in Florence, Antwerp and Basel in October and finally prevailed against the man from Cologne, who after four appearances is still waiting for his first victory in the Davis Cup.

“The whole team believes in Kevin and Pützi and I’m pretty sure we’ll go straight to the hotel with a 2-1 lead.”, said Otte and kept his fingers crossed from then on. For the two-time French Open winner Krawietz and his new permanent partner Pütz, it was a difficult task against the former Wimbledon double winner Pospisil and the individual world number 18. Shapovalov, who improved noticeably from the second set and ultimately caused frustrated faces in the German team.

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