Davis Cup: Jürgen Melzer - "There will be a cauldron"
From November 25, 2021, Austria will host two preliminary round groups of the Davis Cup finals in the Innsbruck Olympic Hall. ÖTV sports director Jürgen Melzer and Davis Cup captain Stefan Koubek gave information on this in a virtual press conference.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Apr 14, 2021, 07:46 am
Whenever the Davis Cup called, Jürgen Melzer and Stefan Koubek always followed the call. And when it comes to the preliminary round of the Davis Cup 2021 final tournament in Innsbruck's Olympic Hall at the end of November, the two left-handers will also be there. At least in the case of Koubek, it is clear in what role: as team captain. Jürgen Melzer against it? There may be another option besides being the sports director of the Austrian Tennis Association (ÖTV).
Because as the legend revealed en passant in a zoom call with journalists with the participation of Koubek and the managing director of ÖTV, Thomas Schweda, his career on the ATP tour is not yet completely over. Melzer will serve in Paris with Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, also starts in Wimbledon (with Philipp Petzschner) as well as at the Olympics and even the US Open are in the room. A use in the Davis Cup? Not as long as Philipp Oswald and Oliver Marach are available.
How many viewers are allowed?
Jürgen Melzer is basically not a fan of the new format, but he sees the distribution of the group matches between two other cities besides Madrid (Turin and Innsbruck) as a step in the right direction. After all, the Italians and Austrians have a home game with the potential to create a great atmosphere. "This will create a cauldron", so Melzer literally, who of course also knows that forecasts with regard to the permitted audience utilization in November are basically not possible.
The second question mark in terms of Innsbruck is behind the teams that actually arrive. Novak Djokovic always likes to play for his country, Melzer explained, but he could not estimate whether Alexander Zverev would play for Germany. Zverev cannot win the tournament in the form of a tournament any more than Melzer, preferred the much more strenuous South America trip with Roger Federer to a start in Madrid in 2019.
Melzer with positive signals from Thiem
And Austria? "If we want to progress, we will need Dominic," explained team boss Koubek. "I am convinced that he is motivated for the Davis Cup in Austria." This has not been the case in the past few weeks, Thiem took a breather after leaving Dubai. In general, Koubek considers the team candidates' condition to be “manageable” at the moment. That includes Dennis Novak, who recently did not look good in Cagliari against the Italian youngster Lorenzo Musetti.
He has received positive signals from Dominic Thiem, Melzer continued. And as if to confirm, the current fourth in the world rankings reported to the new sports director during the press round. Jürgen Melzer will certainly provide information on the results of the recall when the opportunity arises. Only one thing: It is certainly not a shame that Thiem manager Herwig Straka is also the organizer of the Davis Cup break in Innsbruck.