Again and again in the world game: Felt balls flew over the net in New York until Sunday evening, and since Tuesday they have been whistling back and forth under the white roof of Hamburg’s Rothenbaum. The Davis Cup intermediate round follows the US Open at Flushing Meadows almost seamlessly, the game of the most powerful soloists is replaced by the team sport tennis: a competition whose tradition dates back to 1900 and whose format has been fundamentally remodeled in 2019.
This week, the match will be played in four cities at the same time: in Hamburg, where the German captain of the Davis Cup Michael Kohlmann, among others, gathered his men, in Glasgow, Bologna and Valencia. 19-year-old tennis world number one Carlos Alcaraz landed there on an intercontinental flight on Tuesday, having been dueling at Flushing Meadows until last Sunday. And who now, without breathing deeply, must assist his Spanish team to try to reach the final round.
Sixteen nations play in four groups; the eight best teams will then meet in Malaga in November to choose the winner of the big crystal bowl. Carlos Alcaraz and his Spaniards (without Rafael Nadal) start against Serbia (without Novak Djokovic) on Wednesday, their other opponents are Canada on Friday and Korea on Sunday. The German team plays against France, Belgium and Australia in the same rhythm – only that, unlike the Spaniards, they cannot count on the energetic participation of their best. Olympic champion Alexander Zverev, 25, who was considering his return to the court after a serious injury and several torn ligaments in his ankle, now suffers from bone edema in his operated foot and can only promise his colleagues moral support since the bench.
The right to serve first was originally due to the Belgian and Australian national tennis teams on Tuesday at Rothenbaum in Hamburg. In the first singles, 28-time Davis Cup winners Australia took a 1-0 lead as debutant Jason Kugler beat Zizou Bergs (6-4, 1-6, 6-3). Meanwhile, the DTB selection around Jan-Lennard Struff and Oscar Otte was content with variations of the soft ball game. After Zverev’s new injury, his team will “get even closer”, believes team boss Kohlmann before the duel against the French, and doubles specialist Kevin Krawietz also expressed his confidence: “We have already shown that we can win against all the teams”. Wednesday (live on Dazn/Servus TV) from 2 p.m. the ball flight begins for them.
Lifelong zombie fan. Twitter evangelist. Unapologetic travel buff. Hipster-friendly introvert. Typical creator