Anyone who compares the old pictures of Michael Stich winning the Davis Cup in 1993 with today’s cup will see that the trophy has grown. It has become even more massive because the base on which it stands like a cake stand has been increased. Over the past 31 years, a number of victorious nations have claimed to be immortalized on an additional silver plate ring. And even if critics complain that the importance of the Davis Cup has diminished a little disproportionately to the weight of the 100-pound colossus, defeats still blow tennis professionals away just as much as they used to.
“It hurts. Nobody will ever talk about the losers,” said Daniel Altmeier, 26, on Friday evening in Malaga with a dark look: “You want to leave the place as a winner.”
:Just missed the big hit
In the end, it’s the little things that make the difference: the German Davis Cup team fails in the semi-finals against the Netherlands, and the disappointment is huge.
There wasn’t much missing. Hardly anyone in the almost sold-out Palacio de Desportes Jose Maria Martina Carpena would deny that the German national tennis team was closer to reaching the final than it has been for a long time since the last Davis Cup triumph of the team led by Michael Stich, who is now 56 years old is. Because the draw was favorable. The tournament mode was advantageous. And the semi-final opponent Netherlands has just as little as the German selection Tennis Bundes (DTB) has a Grand Slam winner or superhero from the Marvel universe in its ranks. Nevertheless, team boss Michael Kohlmann’s ensemble had to accept two extremely narrow three-set defeats. “We didn’t lose a tiebreak, we kept a cool head in the tightest moments and we were still eliminated,” said Kohlmann, dismayed: “Actually unbelievable.”
Like an escape artist, Altmaier fends off nine match points
It was nuances that made the difference, initially in the case of Altmaier, who had to admit defeat to Botic van de Zandschulp (4:6, 7:6, 3:6). This 29-year-old Dutchman, number 80 in the world, was allowed to play God of Destiny in the quarterfinals on Tuesday and showed the great Rafael Nadal the way to retirement in Mallorca with his tennis racket. However, in only his fourth appearance for the national team, Altmaier proved to be a no less stubborn opponent: he had ten match points against him and pulled himself out of the affair like an escape artist. He fended off five in the tiebreak of the second set (12:14) and four more in the third set. The last match point was one pitfall too many for this “Houdini,” as Kohlmann called him.
Jan-Lennard Struff, 34, number one in the German team for years in the absence of Alexander Zverev, then lost just as unfortunately 7:6 (4), 5:7, 4:6 against Tallon Griekspoor, who had 25 aces that day bludgeoned the lines. Zverev also had a hard time with Griekspoor’s serve storm in five sets at the French Open in June. “In the end we were only a few points short of reaching the final, this team deserved it,” said German tennis president Dietloff von Arnim.
For Kohlmann’s collective, the unassailable 0-2 deficit meant that the world-class doubles Kevin Krawietz/Tim Pütz were no longer called onto the pitch. Because the quarter-final against Canada on Wednesday was also decided 2-0 after the two singles, the ATP champions who were crowned just last Sunday – who flew in late as agents for special tasks in Andalusia – left without doing anything. The use of jokers in the game was therefore not possible at all, another indication of a few fundamental errors in the competition system. In the final, the Netherlands will now face the Italians led by world number one Jannik Sinner, who beat Australia’s team 2-0 on Saturday.
There is no question that Kohlmann has been doing outstanding things in the Davis Cup for years, in this traditional competition that was reformed almost to the point of deconstruction in 2018. This is also why the disappointment about missing out on participation in the final was so great. The team boss has recently introduced a very broad squad to the tasks. Personal circumstances and the tournament mode with a long intermediate round made this necessary. The year has shown “that we need a lot of players to reach the final tournament,” said Kohlmann in Malaga. Yannik Hanfmann, nominated in Spain, is also part of his “incredible group” as are Maximilian Marterer, Henri Squire and Dominik Koepfer in the preliminary and intermediate rounds.
The unpopular intermediate round in September gives way to a home or away duel
This diversity is also a way to compensate for the non-participation of Zverev, Germany’s best tennis player. This year, the world number two was unavailable throughout: he was absent from the first round in February, immediately after the Australian Open, due to illness. In September he skipped the China expedition, which was awkwardly timed between the US Open in New York and the Laver Cup in Berlin. When the final tournament began in Malaga in November, Zverev, who had recently been in poor health, was already on his way to vacation.
The players and team boss have become comfortable with this format of the final round, which was one of the innovations in 2018 and has already been reformed again. However, changes are coming again next year. When the world association ITF entered into a $3 billion, 25-year partnership with the investment group Kosmos in 2018, the system of home and away games in the Davis Cup was abolished – only the first round remained as a meager relic. Five years later, the commercial alliance collapsed and the ITF terminated the contract. The case is now before the International Court of Arbitration for Sport Cas. The ITF did not comment on the circumstances over the weekend “due to contractual confidentiality obligations”.
What is certain, however, is that the unpopular intermediate round in autumn will now take place again. There will be two-day national duels in the popular home or away mode. Playing in front of our own audience again when the team makes a new attempt is “certainly a positive change,” said Kohlmann. By the way, it would be 32 years since a German tennis team last conquered the 100-pound colossus.
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