The German tennis team can still hope to reach the semi-finals at the Davis Cup in Bologna. Top player Alexander Zverev withstood the pressure and won his singles duel with Argentina against Francisco Cerúndolo 6:4, 7:6 (7:3).
In the fight for the top four in the traditional national tournament, the doubles must now be decided, in which national coach Michael Kohlmann, as usual, relies on Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz.
At the start of the quarter-final duel, Jan-Lennard Struff bitterly lost a game of nerves against Tomás Martín Etcheverry 6:7 (3:7), 6:7 (7:9). “He deserved the win. I would have deserved it too. Tennis is like that sometimes,” said Struff.
The DTB team is chasing its first Davis Cup title in northern Italy since 1993. With world number three Zverev at the top, the Germans are considered one of the favorites. In a possible semi-final on Saturday (12:00 p.m./Tennis Channel and tennis.de), Spain would wait for the German selection. For Zverev it was the first game in the Davis Cup since February 2023.
Struff, on the other hand, is a Davis Cup veteran, and the 35-year-old got off to a good start in the atmospheric “SuperTennis Arena” in Hall 37 of the BolognaFiere. The Warsteiner, who had recently gained fresh self-confidence with a victory at the Challenger tournament in Lyon, restored an early break in the middle of the first set. Etcheverry had better nerves in the tiebreak.
The second round also turned out to be a thriller, with both players not showing any weakness when serving. Etcheverry served seven (!) aces in a row in the decisive phase – and again had the upper hand in the tiebreak.
Zverev, who has a record of 1:3 against Cerúndolo on the tour, was highly concentrated in the first set. In the second round, the German’s strength weakened somewhat; when the score was 5:5, he angrily threw his racket on the ground. Nevertheless, a little later he won the match in the tiebreak.