The enchanting German Davis Cup journey comes to an end at the decisive point.
Following two successful triumphs over Slovakia and Chile, the German Davis Cup team experienced a setback against the USA, ending their campaign with two singles losses. The initial defeat against their long-time foe since 1991 had implications for the progression phase.
This German team, under the guidance of coach Michael Kohlmann, suffered its first loss against the USA in the final round and missed out on securing the group triumph. Regardless, they had already secured their spot in the final tournament of the top eight nations in Malaga (November 19-24). In the quarter-finals, they will now face a victor from one of the other three preliminary groups. The draw will be announced next week.
The defeat against the USA in Chinese Zhuhai came to fruition after the singles matches. Davis Cup newcomer Henri Squire squandered three match points in a 7:6 (7:4), 6:7 (9:11), 3:6 defeat to Reilly Opelka. The world No. 187 committed two decisive double faults, one on a match point and later on the second set point against him. Maximilian Marterer then succumbed 4:6, 2:6 to Brandon Nakashima. Kevin Krawietz/Tim Puetz and Austin Krajicek/Rajeev Ram were slated to compete in the doubles match.
Last encounter with the USA
Germany embarked for China without Alexander Zverev, Jan-Lennard Struff, and Dominik Koepfer and managed to progress to the quarter-finals in Spain with two 3:0 victories over Slovakia and Chile. Last year, the team failed to progress to the knockout phase, and Germany had been longing for its fourth Davis Cup victory since 1993.
The last encounter with the USA was even more distant in the past. In 1991, Andre Agassi clinched a 3:2 victory for the USA against a German team led by Michael Stich in Kansas. The two nations faced each other ten times in the old Davis Cup format with home and away matches, with Germany emerging victorious three times, including legendary encounters in 1987 in Hartford and 1989 in Munich, both with Boris Becker as the match winner.
The prestige of past decades has all but dwindled, and some players opted out of participating in the preliminary round after the US Open. Besides Zverev, the New York finalists Jannik Sinner (Italy) and Taylor Fritz (USA) were also absent. The staging of the German group in China also sparked controversy, as the host was not even featured.
Despite the historical wins against the USA in the past, including victories in 1987 and 1989, the current German Davis Cup team showed vulnerability in their recent tennis match against the USA. Henry Squire and Maximilian Marterer struggled in their singles matches, contributing to the team's loss.
With the defeat in mind, the German team will need to regroup and demonstrate their tennis skills once again in the quarter-finals against the victor from one of the other preliminary groups.
