Instead of giving Germany its first triumph in the prestigious team competition in 32 years, Zverev and Co.’s 2-1 defeat against Spain ended before the possible final against hosts Italy.
The defeat in Bologna against the Spaniards, who competed without the injured world number one Carlos Alcaraz, was certain after the final double. Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz lost this against Marcel Granollers and Pedro Martinez 2:6, 6:3, 3:6.
Zverev: “I’m sick”
“We are very disappointed today, that’s okay. But that won’t stop us from winning it at some point,” said team captain Michael Kohlmann: “We will definitely attack.”
Alcaraz congratulated his Spanish teammates remotely via platform X: “VAMOOOOOOS!!!!!!» Previously, world number three Zverev had made it 1-1 with a 7:6 (7:2), 7:6 (7:5) against Jaume Munar – even though he was physically injured.
Zverev said on the pitch that he was “not at his best” and a little lacking in energy – and explained why a little later in the press conference: “I’m sick.” At the start of the semi-finals, Jan-Lennard Struff lost 4:6, 6:7 (6:8) against Pablo Carreno Busta.
In the quarterfinals against Argentina, Germany was able to turn a 0-1 deficit into a 2-1 win. This time there was no comeback – and so Spain will play the decisive duel for the title against Italy on Sunday (3 p.m.). The defending champions beat Belgium 2-0 even without their top star Jannik Sinner, who was missing for stress reasons.
Zverev had a hard time against the clay court specialist Munar, whom he had clearly beaten at the Olympics in Paris. In the two tiebreaks, however, the larger class of the tournament player who was by far the best placed in the world rankings clearly prevailed.
“Things like this can happen”
Despite his illness, he wanted to do “everything possible” to reach the final, said Zverev when the doubles match was still going on. He can now save his energy. What he described as an “incredibly unsatisfactory” season ended without the reconciliatory sense of success he had hoped for.
The Australian Open finalist had to struggle with sporting and physical setbacks for almost the entire year. Zverev explained that he started in Bologna because his teammates asked him to and because of the age structure in the team there were no longer that many chances of winning the Davis Cup. He “loves the team.”
But the star is not a fan of the Davis Cup in its current form. He recently described it as a “show tournament”. He would really miss the special atmosphere of the previous home and away games. He referred to some legendary duels such as the one against Spain in the bullring in Valencia in 2018, “because the emotions you got there used to only exist at the Davis Cup”. At the final tournament in Bologna, Italy’s games are crowded and loud, while the atmosphere at the other nations’ matches is much more subdued.
After the second defeat in his second match, Struff struggled a bit with his own performance and the lack of luck. “Of course it doesn’t feel great to lose twice,” said the Warsteiner. He didn’t blame the five missed set points in a row in the second set on his nerves: “Things like that can happen.”
