Struff and Novak with increasing form towards the Davis Cup
Jan-Lennard Struff and Dennis Novak should lead Germany and Austria at the Davis Cup meeting in Innsbruck. Both showed increasing form recently.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Oct 09, 2021, 09:00 am
How it all started: After the draw for the Davis Cup final round in early 2020, tennis fans envisioned a summit meeting between Novak Djokovic , Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev in the group stage. Where we are currently: Thiem cannot participate in Innsbruck at the end of November due to the Austrian's wrist injury, Zverev has repeatedly stated that he does not like the format. And it can be assumed that Novak Djokovic will also go into the short offseason after the ATP Finals in Turin.
So the top positions in the German team will go to Jan-Lennard Struff, in the Austrian team to Dennis Novak. With the Serbs, Filip Krajinovic or Dusan Lajovic would be an option. From a German-speaking point of view, there is always two good news: Both Struff and Novak have already shown several times in the Davis Cup that they can surpass themselves within a team. And in the end both showed increasing form again.
Struff in Indian Wells versus Fognini
Dennis Novak, for example, was in the final at the ATP Challenger tournament in Orleans last week, yesterday, Friday, in the quarter-finals of Mouilleron-le-Captif in the quarter-finals against Norbert Gombos, the tank was empty. Struff, in turn, celebrated a two-set win at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Indian Wells against Daniel Elahi Galan, and will be able to compete with Fabio Fognini on Sunday (local time).
Behind Novak and Struff, however, it will be exciting, especially with the Austrians. According to the world rankings, Jurij Rodionov would be number two, but the left-hander has had very few successes in the recent past. Sebastian Ofner is struggling with injuries, so team boss Stefan Koubek has to get creative. And maybe even think about Alexander Erler, the Tyrolean local hero.
Krawietz and Mies, Marach and Oswald in doubles?
The starting position for Germany's Davis Cup captain Michael Kohlmann is a little friendlier, even if Dominik Koepfer and Philipp Kohlschreiber lost their opening games in Indian Wells. Even if it should come down to one of the two: With Yannick Hanfmann or Daniel Altmaier, Kohlmann has a couple of solid alternatives for Innsbruck up his sleeve.
Clarity should, however, prevail on the double positions: For Austria, the Olympic double with Oliver Marach and Philipp Oswald will probably go to the Bütt. On the German side, Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies could reunite. "Kramies" broke up with Mies for the current season due to the injury, while Krawietz and his partner Horia Tecau are heading towards a qualification for the ATP finals in Turin. In the Davis Cup (and probably again in the coming year), a comeback of the two-time French Open champions can be expected.