With a new team boss, but without the great hope: The German tennis women are starting a complicated mission of promotion in the Billie Jean King Cup.
Due to the short-term absence of Eva Lys due to injury, national coach Torben Beltz’s selection in Oeiras/Portugal has to contend with an inexperienced team. The first preliminary round duel in the Europe/Africa I regional group starts on Tuesday (12 p.m./tennis.de).
“We would of course have liked to have Eva Lys there. But it is important that she fully recovers from her knee injury from Australia,” said Beltz, who will also appear as team boss for the first time in Portugal. For Lys (24), the 49-year-old nominated Nastasja Schunk (22) and Eva Bennemann (18) at short notice. They complete the young squad with Ella Seidel (21), Noma Noha Akugue (22) and Tessa Brockmann (20).
“With the subsequent nomination, we are following the clearly defined process of introducing young players to the national team who will continue to represent Germany in the next few years,” said Beltz. For Bennemann, like Noha Akugue, it is the debut in the national team. The experienced players Laura Siegemund and Tatjana Maria (both 38) are no longer part of the team this year.
Germany will face Denmark, Portugal and Sweden in the preliminary round. The team must finish first in the group to maintain its chance of securing one of three spots in the fall playoffs. In the negative case, there is also the risk of a further drop into Regional Group II. The group duels take place from Tuesday to Thursday, and the placement games take place on Friday and Saturday.
Beltz, who had previously worked as national coach since the end of 2024, was also appointed team captain for the international matches in February. He succeeded Rainer Schüttler. Lys first complained about knee problems at the Australian Open. After an almost two-month break due to injury, she actually returned to the tour in mid-March. She failed twice at her opening hurdle – now the next setback followed.
