After the impressive victory against Brazil, Jule Niemeier and Co. stormed the press conference of team boss Rainer Schüttler and final winner Anna-Lena Friedsam. The water splashed in the press room of the Porsche Arena after Germany’s tennis women against the world number 14. Beatriz Haddad Maia led the South Americans 3-1 and thus qualified for the finals of the Billie Jean King Cup.
“I’m very proud,” said Schüttler, who was once again spot on with his personnel decisions. “It’s a great team, they’re all good friends, which makes it nice to work with them,” said the ex-professional.
The big star is missing from the team because Angelique Kerber has just taken a baby break and Andrea Petkovic has ended her career. This has made it more difficult to sell tickets, which is why the Porsche Arena was only very sparsely occupied on Friday and Saturday. But it is also the secret of success.
The ticket for the finals has been purchased
“We’re such a good team across the board that we have a lot of options for variation,” said Friedsam. “Others don’t have that much of a difference. They often only have one top player, who then takes all the pressure. On the other hand, we can trust each other.”
Against Brazil, Schüttler put top player Jule Niemeier on the bench because of her form crisis on the first day. Tatjana Maria, who had traveled to Stuttgart with the confidence of winning the tournament in Bogotá, played instead. When Maria was tired on Saturday after her victorious marathon match the night before, Niemeier came into action. A move that worked out with the 7: 6 (7: 3), 3: 6, 6: 2 of the 23-year-old from Dortmund in the top singles against Haddad Maia. Friedsam then provided the decisive point with a clear 6:1, 6:0 against Laura Pigossi.
The ticket for the finals from November 7th to 12th is thus solved. And the German tennis players want to play a good role there too. “We don’t need to hide from anyone,” Friedsam said. For Germany it is the second final round participation after 2021. At that time the selection of the German Tennis Association in Prague was eliminated after two defeats in the group phase.
