Top player Alexander Zverev will be missing from the German Davis Cup team in the upcoming qualifying game in Hungary.
The Australian Open semi-finalist is still suffering from an infection that weakened him in the recent defeat against the Russian Daniil Medvedev in Melbourne, the German Tennis Association announced. The 26-year-old from Hamburg will be replaced by Maximilian Marterer in the team for the game this Friday and Saturday in Tatabanya.
“We hoped until the end that Alexander could support us against Hungary after his strong performances in Australia. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough time for him to get fit in time,” said German Davis Cup team boss Michael Kohlmann. “Now we have to stand together as a team to compensate for the loss.”
Zverev had a blood test done and a virus was found, reported Kohlmann. “He still had a fever until yesterday. When you talk to him you can hear it, his voice is still thick. We had to make a decision today.”
Kohlmann convinced by the team – even without Zverev
Kohlmann was convinced that the German team could survive without Zverev, but also made it clear: “It makes a difference whether you have a top ten player here. He can always make the difference. I think everyone can now Games are 50:50. I believe that we have to make sure that we have to reach our performance limit in every match.”
The team also includes veteran Jan-Lennard Struff, Dominik Koepfer and the doubles specialists Tim Pütz and Kevin Krawietz. Left-hander Marterer immediately agreed to step in for Zverev after his opening defeat at the ATP tournament in Montpellier and is now expected in Hungary on Thursday. The 92nd in the world rankings had already done this successfully in the relegation game in Bosnia-Herzegovina last September.
In Hungary it is now about qualifying for the group stage of the Davis Cup in September. The hosts’ squad includes two players from the top 100 in the world rankings: Fabian Marozsan and Marton Fucsovics.
