Davis Cup: tears of joy with Dennis Novak - rich prize money for the ÖTV

The Austrian Davis Cup team made the qualification for the final tournament in Madrid for the first time on the second try. Dennis Novak led the ÖTV team as number one, withstood the pressure and confirmed his strong start to the season on the ATP tour in the Davis Cup. Jurij Rodionov gave a talent test, Jürgen Melzer and Oliver Marach ensured a work victory. And for the first time, captain Stefan Koubek celebrates a victory in the "world group".

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In the end the tears flowed. Dennis Novak stood in the middle of the square, touching the baseline with the left sole of his foot, while his opponent, pushed back by the Austrian's offensive game, could only react. Novak started on forehand, it should be the last blow in the country duel of the Styria Hall with Uruguay. His forehand landed exactly in the cross of the right service field. Pablo Cuevas was beaten.

Novak turned to the Austrian supervisor's bench, stretched out both arms, dropped to his knees before his emotions came over him. He let the bat down and his face fall into both hands until a euphoric Jürgen Melzer pushed him back a few meters with a high speed and an intimate hug.

It was on the shoulder of the now 38-year-old that Novak had his first of several tears. Born in Wiener Neustadt, he went as a leader in the qualification round for the Davis Cup finals, and he completely filled his role with two individual wins.

“There has never been such an emotional moment in my career. Otherwise I wouldn't have had tears in the end, ”said Novak with a little distance to the game at the final press conference. Drawn by his emotions, he apologized to his audience at Schwarzlsee for his missing words immediately after his second individual on late Saturday afternoon. Exactly 40 minutes after the end of the match, he was much more talkative.

Dennis Novak: Mental trick helped serving up

"It was a great week. I'm really happy to be in such a team where everyone gives everything for everyone. I can only thank everyone for the great work. It was overwhelming that we made Madrid, ”said Novak.

He gave the first set against Cuevas 2: 6, mainly because Novak himself was "very tense" and the Uruguayan played "uncomfortably". "Not as I expected him to be," said Novak, noting a tactically different, more offensive approach from his opponent compared to his match against Jurij Rodionov on Friday.

In the third set, Novak mentally tricked himself "to take the pressure off me" by telling himself a score of 4: 3 on the last side of the match, even though he led 5: 4 and served on the international victory.

Even if it was Novak who made the decisive third point, the current number 85 in the ATP ranking classified victory as a team success. “I have to thank Jurij, Oli and Jürgen. They worked him well, in the end he was no longer the freshest, ”Novak pointed out the previous matches in Premstätten, in which Cuevas spent a total of four hours and 57 minutes on the pitch.

Stefan Koubek: "May snack on success"

"I left my nerves on these two days," remarked Captain Stefan Koubek in his final statement. "Dennis deserved to win, just brilliant."

For Koubek, the victory in Premstätten meant the fulfillment of a dream he had cherished for many years. “For me personally, it was a huge goal to win a match in the world group. As an active I never made it. The boys did it for me, I can enjoy the success as a captain. I'm proud of that. ”

And further: “The week was awesome. We have a lot of fun, they all stick together. I'm really proud of the team. They deserve Madrid. I'm happy to be able to go there with them. ”

From November 23 to 29, 2020, the so-called Davis Cup Finals will take place in Madrid for the second time. 18 teams are qualified, the game is played in six groups of three. The draw in London will take place next Thursday at 5 p.m.

The ÖTV Davis Cup captain is hoping for a mild draw. “You don't want Spain. Serbia neither. Maybe in the final, ”he said. "We are happy that we are there. It's all about this."

Davis Cup finals for ÖTV & players "lucrative"

The ticket for Madrid also has financial added value. ÖTV will receive prize money of 130,000 euros for the victory in the qualification duel. In November there will be an amount of 256,000 euros for the group stage, the ÖTV players will receive 515,000 euros.

Should Austria advance to the knockout phase, the prize money will increase at least twice. On Saturday, he did not want to answer whether Koubek could fall back on his number one in Spain's capital.

"We don't need to talk about the Dominic. The boys won here, ”he clarified. "You can be proud of yourself. It was a great team success. We'll take a look at what's then in Madrid. One thing is clear: we all want Dominic to be in Madrid. ”

ÖTV managing director Thomas Schweda was also pleased with “a top performance”. "Because of the qualification, tennis is even more important and we will try to put our sport even more in the focus of interest and to further develop the tennis product," he announced.

"It is very lucrative for the players and the association - the further you get, the more. It is good money and that is what the players earn," said Schweda to APA . Preparations for Madrid should start on Monday, there will be several travel packages for fans.

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Davis Cup Finals: These teams are qualified

After Davis Cup: How things will continue for Novak, Rodionov & Co.

Novak in Styria continued its good start to the season on the ATP tour. At the ATP Cup in early January in Sydney, he won the top 100 for the first time in his career with a victory over Guido Pella and the associated bonus points.

Afterwards he qualified for the Australian Open (first round loss despite 2-0 set against Hubert Hurkacz) lost in Montpellier as well as in the qualification in Rotterdam, but scored important points at the hard court tournament in Dubai. After successful qualification, he benefited from a good draw and only failed in the second round against Karen Khachanov.

Novak currently ranks 45th in the Race to London. Up until the French Open in May, Novak still had 182 points to defend, a little over a quarter of its total points. Last year, he won the Taipei Challenger in April. The 26-year-old is now taking a little break before contesting a challenger in France. For the European clay court season, he says he will switch entirely to the ATP tour.

Both Oliver Marach and Jürgen Melzer travel to Indian Wells immediately after the Davis Cup in Premstätten near Graz. Marach is there with Raven Klassen as well as Melzer with Edouard Roger-Vasselin in the double main field. With Dominic Thiem (partner of Grigor Dimitrov), a third Austrian can be found in the grid.

Rodionov, who won his first set in the Davis Cup against Uruguay and challenged Pablo Cuevas over three sets, has not given himself a break after his intense program in the past few weeks. The 20-year-old will serve both in singles and doubles at the Challenger in Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan) next week.

Sebastian Ofner, who was scheduled for the last individual in Premstätten, still has to wait for his first victory in the Davis Cup. The Styrian was also registered in Nur Sultan, but is now not competing.