The German Davis Cup team’s route to the knockout round in Malaga leads via Zhuhai in China. Team boss Kohlmann speaks of a “huge effort”.
The German Davis Cup team’s route to the knockout round in Malaga leads via Zhuhai. National coach Michael Kohlmann’s team will face the USA, Slovakia and Chile in the group phase from September 10th to 15th in the Chinese city. This was the result of the draw on Tuesday.
“The Zhuhai venue is not ideal for all the countries in our group,” said team boss Michael Kohlmann: “It will be a huge effort, especially for players who go far at the US Open, because the first match day is on Tuesday.” The US Open in New York, the third Grand Slam tournament, does not end until September 8th.
Further games in Bologna, Manchester and Valencia
The best two in the group qualify for the final phase. Davis Cup team boss Kohlmann’s German team is seeded as group leaders in Group C. “You can only speculate at the moment as to how the nations will line up. But based on our successes in recent years, this is a group composition in which all of us should aim to reach the finals in Málaga,” said Kohlmann.
The ITF surprised everyone by awarding a group stage to China. The other qualifiers for the quarter-finals in Malaga will be played in Bologna, Manchester and Valencia. Italy is the defending champion.
The selection of the German Tennis Federation (DTB) mastered the qualifying round in the traditional tennis team competition in February even without Olympic champion Alexander Zverev. In Tatabanya they won 3-2 against hosts Hungary. Last year, the Kohlmann team missed the group stage.
