So Alexander Zverev probably didn’t really believe in it himself. He therefore only half-heartedly clung to the last straw of hope, in this case the effort of the “hawk eye” after the final rally. When the inevitable was confirmed by video evidence and his defeat against Marc-Andrea Hüsler was sealed, Germany’s best tennis player was already at the net ready to shake hands.
And because debutant Daniel Altmaier then lost 3:6, 7:5, 4:6 against Stan Wawrinka despite a thrilling fight, the German team also lost their Davis Cup qualifier against Switzerland 2:3. It was a disappointing end to what was initially a promising weekend.
Because Zverev’s 2: 6, 6: 7 against number 53 in the world rankings was disappointing not only for the German selection in general but also for him in particular. After what he said was the “best training sets since the injury”, which forced him to take a seven-month break, Zverev played “by far the best match since the injury” on Friday. The 6: 4, 6: 1 against Wawrinka, who has already won three Grand Slam tournaments, suggested that Zverev could be getting closer to his best form faster than feared. The weak performance on Saturday was all the more sobering.
“I will still have days like this”
“Yesterday I played a good match, it wasn’t far from the level I can play,” said Zverev. “Unfortunately, I didn’t play a good match today.” Nevertheless, he tried to classify the defeat as part of the “process”, as he calls it. “It was a lot better than in Australia,” he said, looking back at his disappointing second-round defeat at the first Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne in mid-January. “The process is there and that is the most important thing. There will be days like that for me. And I don’t think it will be the last – unfortunately.” Only when the clay court season begins can he expect to play his best tennis again.
From a German point of view, Saturday had started with an emotional high point. Andreas Mies and Tim Pütz defeated Wawrinka and the up-and-coming Dominic Stricker 6: 7 (3: 7), 6: 3, 6: 4. The German team has had several world-class doubles players for many years now. In the Davis Cup, before the duel with the Swiss, there were 15 wins in the past 16 doubles games.
However, Mies and Pütz had never formed a duo. They played their only two matches together 14 years ago at college in Alabama. “I couldn’t do doubles then,” said Mies in Trier. “Pützi first had to explain to me where to stand.”
On Saturday, the role of the verbal leader was distributed rather the other way around. Especially in the decisive phase in the third sentence, it was Mies who provided the necessary emotional impetus. He yelled, cheered, animated the audience and even ran to the bench in the middle of the service game to high five with team captain Michael Kohlmann. “I always teased him a little bit. I like to stand next to it, because that’s not my nature,” Pütz said afterwards about his colleague. He found the atmosphere that the duo created in the hall “awesome”. “We rarely if ever experience something like this.”
Lots of open questions
In general, the weekend in Trier was once again proof that the home and away atmosphere, which has become rare, is at the heart of this traditional competition. With more than 4,000 spectators, the arena was sold out on both days, and the atmosphere was outstanding at times. Against this background, the concept with the finals in one place, which is so unpopular with many, should no longer have a future after the world association ITF announced the termination of the contract with the Kosmos group of companies around soccer star Piqué. However, it is still completely unclear how the nation competition will look in the coming year.
The question of whether Germany will then continue to play in the world group at all is just as unclear. In addition to Altmaier and Zverev, Oscar Otte also lost in the opening singles on Friday after a good start 6: 2, 2: 6, 4: 6 against the Swiss number one, Hüsler. Now the selection of the German Tennis Association (DTB) has to prevent relegation in a play-off duel in September. After all: There is enough time for Zverev to get in shape.
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