In what could be considered a bit of a surprise, Germany has become the second nation to qualify for the semifinals of the 2021 Davis Cup. On Tuesday, the Germans defeated Great Britain two matches to one from Innsbruck, Austria, and will now await the winner of the Russian Tennis Federation and Sweden.
The Germans got off to a tough start as Peter Gojowczyk was steamrolled by Dan Evans, 6-2, 6-1. However, Jan-Lennard Stuff evened the tie at one win apiece over Cameron Norrie with a 7-6, 3-6, 6-2 win. Then in men’s doubles, Kevin Krawietz and Tim Putz of Germany defeated the British duo of Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski 7-6, 7-6. The first set tiebreak needed 22 points to determine a winner as Krawietz and Putz won 12-10.
This was the second straight quarterfinal match that needed the doubles match to determine the winner. In Croatia’s win over Italy on Monday, the reigning Olympic men’s doubles champions and Wimbledon men’s doubles champions, Nikola Metkic and Mate Pavic defeated the Italian duo of Fabio Fognini and Jannik Sinner, 6-3, 6-4.
There is no doubt that the Davis Cup is special for men’s doubles specialists because it puts doubles tennis into the forefront, when many times it takes a backseat to singles play. Interestingly, Krawietz and Putz have won six career ATP doubles finals each, but never together. Since July, Putz has won the Hamburg European Open and the Paris Masters with New Zealand’s Michael Venus.
What made the German win over Great Britain even more impressive is the fact they were able to come through and get the W without their star player, Alexander Zverev, the world number three, and reigning Olympic and ATP World Tour Finals champion. According to Dzevad Mesic of Tennis World, Zverev disagreed with the change of format and stated “I won’t play Davis Cup Finals, it’s not real Davis Cup.”
One must realize that Struff is no push over. He has been as high as 29th in the world (August 2020), and reached the final of the 2021 Bavarian Championship in Munich before losing to Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia, 6-4, 7-6. Struff has also beaten Russian Andrey Rublev in the first round of the French Open and Daniil Medvedev in the first round of Halle in 2021. The wins over the two Russian stars could give him confidence if Germany plays the Russian Tennis Federation in the semifinals.
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