The German Davis Cup team has to fight for a place in the intermediate round in Hungary. Even without Alexander Zverev, who is ill, the chances of qualifying are good.
There is no doubt that the German Davis Cup team will go into the first round game against Hungary as favorites. Even if Alexander Zverev (infection) had to cancel his participation at short notice for the game in Tatabanya (January 2nd to 4th, 2024) due to illness, team boss Michael Kohlmann’s team should still be able to move into the next, the intermediate round.
Finally, with Jan-Lennard Struff (No. 24 in the world rankings), Dominik Koepfer (60) and Maximilian Marterer (92), who was nominated at short notice, there are good quality players available in the singles who are in good shape and who will play against their Hungarian rivals Fabian Marozsan (57) and Marton Fucsovics (82) can definitely hold their own. The team boss can also rely on the doubles specialists Tim Pütz and Kevin Krawietz.
Warning about Marozsan
Nevertheless, Kohlmann warns above all about Marozsan, who is currently experiencing a high. The Hungarian is higher in the world rankings than ever before and seems to have just made his final breakthrough on the world tennis stage. Both Australian Open The 24-year-old only lost in the fourth round. Last May, Marozsan really attracted attention for the first time when he played the Spanish Shooting star Carlos Alcaraz at Masterstournament in Rome (6:3; 7:6) spectacularly.
“He’s an extremely good player. I thought he was very good in his matches against Cilic and Cerundolo in Australia. If you let him play, he’s an exceptional player, especially in attack“says Kohlmann. “It will be interesting to see how he copes here on the slightly slower ground.”
Frenetic fans
The game will be played on hard court. Around 6,500 tennis fans will frenetically cheer on the Hungarian team in the sold-out hall that was actually built for the 2022 European Handball Championships. “The supporters won’t exactly have black, red and gold flags in their hands”said Kohlmann.
The second Hungarian player, Marton Fucsovics, will also want to benefit from this intense atmosphere. The 31-year-old is a hard-hitting veteran who recently caused problems for Zverev at the Indoor Masters in Paris. The German was only able to prevail in three sets.
Lost against Switzerland
“The two Hungarians are exceptional players. And that requires 100 percent performance”says Kohlmann, who will hope that his warning will be heard by his players.
Last year, the German team suffered a defeat against Switzerland at the start (2:3) and had to fight against relegation from the World Group – which they succeeded in the end.
But such a negative experience should now be prevented at all costs. “Now we hope that we can move into the second round”said Kohlmann.