Davis Cup: Rodionov shocks Koepfer and Germany
Jurij Rodionov put Austria in the lead with a convincing performance against Germany. Rodionov defeated Dominik Koepfer 6-1 and 7-5. In the top singles Dennis Novak meets Jan-Lennard Struff (now live on ServusTV and servustv.com).
by Jens Huiber
last edit:
Nov 28, 2021, 05:58 pm
Here you can read the match in the live ticker.
Austria's team boss had bet on Gerald Melzer in the duel with Serbia, against Germany Koubek now resorted to Rodionov. Michael Kohlmann, the German captain, stayed with Dominik Koepfer who scored the important first point against Filip Krajinovic on Saturday.
Koepfer slept through the start completely, but could not do anything with Rodionov's approach from the start. The Austrian not only convinced with his variable offensive play, Rodionov also knew how to convince in defense.
Struff has to deliver against Novak
After winning the first set, Rodionov also managed the first break in the second act in the Innsbruck Olympia World, this time to 2-1. Another chance in the fifth game fended off Koepfer. A few moments later it was Rodionov who had to fend off a breakball. At 3: 4 from Koepfer's point of view, the time had come: The German made his first break in the match. Koepfer almost took the momentum to directly win the set - Rodionov fended off two set balls at 4: 5. And promptly got the advantage to 6: 5. And served after 0:30 behind.
In the second match Jan-Lennard Struff now has to beat Dennis Novak. Otherwise Germany would have completely given up its excellent starting position after the victory against Serbia. The Austrians have to win 3-0 in order to have any chance of qualifying as one of the two best runners-up in the group for the quarter-finals.
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