There has not yet been any discussion with team boss Michael Kohlmann about a possible deployment of top player Alexander Zverev in the Davis Cup group phase in September.
“I haven’t talked to him about it yet. We now have a little time until September,” said the team captain after successfully completing the qualifying round of the nations competition in Hungary.
With the 3-2 win in Tatabánya against the hosts on Friday and Saturday without Zverev, the German tennis men qualified for the group phase, which will be held in four different cities from September 10th to 15th. It is not yet known which cities these will be.
The team has “set big goals for this year,” said Kohlmann, but reassured: “We have to wait for the draw first. If I said now that it is only an interim goal, it would be a bit presumptuous,” said Kohlmann added: “I think that the end goal is to get to Malaga.” The final round with eight teams will take place in Malaga in November.
In Hungary, the singles players Jan-Lennard Struff and Dominik Koepfer as well as the doubles specialists Tim Pütz and Kevin Krawietz each scored one point. “I know that no matter when I call them, the four always come. Then we definitely have a very, very strong team,” said Kohlmann.
No Davis Cup group stage in Germany
The German Tennis Association does not want to apply to host group games in the Davis Cup this year. “In the end, we didn’t find a hall. The short-term nature of the issue is the big problem,” said DTB President Dietloff von Arnim to the German Press Agency in Tatabanya. “The second hurdle would be financial, but we haven’t gotten that far.”
In 2022, the German Tennis Association successfully applied together with the Austrian promoter “Emotion Group”. However, in the 10,000 spectator capacity stadium in Hamburg am Rothenbaum, many spectator seats remained empty due to difficult weather conditions. The high ticket prices also led to criticism from the players. Alexander Zverev was intended to be a crowd puller back then when he was on his way to becoming number one in the world. Due to the consequences of his foot injury, Zverev had to cancel his participation at short notice.
In 2023, the German tennis men missed the group phase. After the defeat in Trier against Switzerland, they had to secure their place in the World Group in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
