Davis Cup: With Zverev or not - German team confident for Madrid
The German Davis Cup team reached the final round without him, but the first questions about Alexander Zverev were already raised in Düsseldorf. Will he be there in Madrid, is he welcome at all?
by SID
last edit: Mar 08, 2020, 02:06 pm
The strong Jan-Lennard Struff and his colleagues were celebrated in the Castello in Düsseldorf, while Alexander Zverev was taking selfies with the former NBA star Dwyane Wade in the Staples Center in Los Angeles, 9000 kilometers away. It is initially unclear whether the spatial distance between the best German tennis player and the Davis Cup team will change until the final round in Madrid in November. In any case, Zverev was not there last year.
Davis Cup captain Michael Kohlmann reacted rather coldly to questions about Zverev after his team's 4-1 qualification against Belarus. "I think we showed in Madrid last year that we can keep up with the way we are sitting here now," said the 46-year-old. Next to him, Struff nodded, the doubles Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies, Philipp Kohlschreiber and substitute Dominik Koepfer agree.
In Düsseldorf, the German team presented itself as a conspiratorial bunch, in which everyone is passionate about playing for black, red and gold. Struff confidently fulfilled his role as leader, Krawietz / Mies once again showed that their French Open victory in 2019 didn't have to be a flash in the pan, and young Dominik Koepfer found hardly enough words after his Davis Cup debut in the meaningless last single, to describe his pride.
Kohlschreiber undecided about the endgame
The big question mark remains Philipp Kohlschreiber. The 36-year-old conceded the only loss in the game against the Belarusians and openly admitted that "tennis is no longer a top priority for me". Whether "Kohli" will still be there in November seems very questionable, because: "At 36 I am already thinking about what else is going on in life."
And that's why they need Alexander Zverev, there's no doubt about that. Of course Michael Kohlmann knows that too. "With a top ten player, of course, we're in a completely different position," he said. And his boys have big plans in Madrid, it should definitely go further than 2019, when the quarter-final against Great Britain was the final stop. "This time we really want to tear something," said Andreas Mies and suggested to the association to fly a few hundred fans to Madrid for better support: "It's not that expensive."
Munich attractive for Zverev?
The responsible bodies of the World Federation ITF are currently discussing whether Germany has to go to Madrid in the preliminary round, which will be drawn in London on Thursday (March 12). One of the plans is to outsource the preliminary round with the six groups of three to three other cities. Munich is being discussed as the host of the German games.
"A lot is being discussed," said Boris Becker, head of the men's tennis division at the DTB: "The idea of the final round is good, but there is room for improvement." One of them would be to start playing in Madrid in the quarter-finals. Maybe Alexander Zverev thinks it's so good that he really wants to be there.