The German Davis Cup team will face Argentina in the quarterfinals of the final round in Bologna. Supported by top player Alexander Zverev, the title should emerge at the end.
The expectations are high, the anticipation is palpable. Bologna, in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, is currently not only the place of longing for countless tourists, but also that of the German Davis Cup team. For the first time since 1993, national tennis coach Michael Kohlmann and his team want to bring the title back to Germany.
“I have a good feeling, we have nothing to lose. We don’t have to win anything, we want to win something“, Kohlmann tells Sportschau before the decisive matches: “We are all very positive and want to play here. And that is the basic prerequisite for achieving something big here.”
Alcaraz cancels injured
Nothing less than the final tournament of the most traditional competition in tennis is coming up this week (November 18th to 23rd, 2025). Even if the changed mode since 2019 has caused the reputation of the competition to suffer, Kohlmann sees it as still being very important. “If you have seen the participation of the top players in recent years, then you can see a positive development.”said the national coach.
However: The world number one and Spain’s number 1, Carlos Alcaraz, canceled on Tuesday at short notice due to an injury (thigh edema), Italy’s top players Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti had already decided to do so in advance. From a German perspective, this is certainly not a disadvantage for the title mission.
Opponent Argentina is at eye level
The German Tennis Federation (DTB) team arrived with its best line-up to compete in the quarter-finals against the strong Argentina (Thursday from 5 p.m.) with Francisco Cherundolo, among others. With Alexander Zverev, Jan-Lennard Struff and Jannick Hanfmann for the singles and Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz for the doubles, a competitive DTB team should be ready. “This is a game of equals. Every match is a 50:50 game,” said Kohlmann.
The special thing: Zverev is back in the game for the first time in two and a half years. And the 28-year-old once again criticized the format of the event in advance. Zverev said he would be happy to play a possible Davis Cup final after the ATP Finals. But the fact that the quarter and semi-finals were not played in the weeks or months before is “Waste of time“.
Kohlmann: “Adapt to the rules”
Kohlmann tries to moderate Zverev’s comments as emotionlessly as possible and points to the motivation of the best German player to take part in the final tournament. “Because he wants to win. There’s one thing he doesn’t like, and that’s losing. If you go back a little in his statements, then one of his goals was to win the Davis Cup. That’s a fact.”says Kohlmann: “The mode may not be in his interest. Just as we as an association have also expressed that we are not in favor of these changes.” However, you have to adapt to the rules, otherwise it would “difficult to win the Davis Cup“.
Kohlmann also brushes off any possible internal unease about Zverev’s nomination, which will most likely cost Yannik Hanfmann his place in the individual – who contributed to the German team being able to compete in Bologna. “We’ve always talked about it for two and a half years that we need a big squad that will give us victories, qualifying rounds and also be successful in the finals. Now we’re very happy in the final that Sascha is there and gives us even more quality.”says Kohlmann.
Last chance for Struff and Hanfmann?
But it is also clear that the DTB team will no longer have a great future in this constellation. Struff is already 35 years old, Hanfmann 34. It may be the last chance for these two to win the title. “I think they know that there aren’t countless more times now and that you can see that the home stretch is somewhere. But everyone knows that it’s something special to have this chance here again. And now it’s about putting this horsepower on the road and taking advantage of our chance,” said Kohlmann.