With team spirit and "miracle weapon": Davis Cup team wants to surprise even without Zverev
The resignation of Alexander Zverev weighs heavily, but also with three debutants wants to surprise the German Davis Cup team at the final tournament in Madrid.
by SID
last edit: Nov 19, 2019, 05:45 pm
Alexander Zverev did not have time to breathe. After arriving in Buenos Aires, he immediately gave the grill master with Roger Federer and threw powerful Argentine steaks on the grid, then the young German tennis star diligently signed autographs for the enthusiastic fan masses. And while Zverev tours through Latin America with the Swiss maestro and holds numerous show fights, the German team faces a difficult task on the other side of the Atlantic at the Davis Cup.
"With Sascha Zverev we would of course be stronger," said tennis icon Boris Becker SID to the chances of the Germans in the new final tournament of the team competition in Madrid: "That's why we are not favorite, we are outsiders."
Title contenders are others, for example, the host of the world ranking list Rafael Nadal Spain, the balanced heavily occupied Frenchman or Serbia with Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic. But even without his top player, the German team does not need to hide, says Becker: "Through our team spirit, we hope to win the necessary points."
Team Germany with three debutants
Zverev had categorically ruled out participation after harsh criticism of the reformed Davis Cup. Therefore, the team unity will be "our key to success," said Becker before the group matches against Argentina on Wednesday and the following day against Chile (both from 11.00 clock / DAZN).
But without his star, the German team is a lucky bag. Team Principal Michael Kohlmann sends three debutants to the US Open first knockout round Dominik Koepfer and French Open winners Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies in doubles. In addition to veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber, only Jan-Lennard Struff has Davis Cup experience, the Warsteiner plays the best season of his career and is singled out in Madrid.
"He is a very important support for me", Kohlmann praised his number one: "I really can use this any time, every day, he is always ready to give everything." And Struff is not the only one who goes into the season finale with a tailwind after a good year.
Kramies: "Extremely excited"
Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies are an "absolute world-class doubles", Becker praised the French Open winner. The fact that the triumph in Paris was no fluke, they showed no later than their semi-final at the US Open. And the anticipation for Madrid is huge with the duo from Coburg and Cologne.
"It has always been a childhood dream to play Davis Cup and there is no better year-end," Mies told SID. The late appointment at the end of the season was "unfavorable", after all, he played with Krawietz in the previous week still at the ATP Finals in London. But, as Mies emphasized, "we are extremely excited, no matter when it takes place."
And then the team boss in Dominik Koepfer still has a special ace up his sleeve. "Dominik is a bit of a miracle weapon," Kohlmann said of the 25-year-old, who had failed to qualify in the knockout stages of the US Open on eventual finalist Daniil Medvedev. Koepfer's will and fighting spirit were particularly impressive. "That can," believes Kohlmann, "just do a team the way we are in Madrid."