Davis Cup: Germany reap rewards from singles selections to sweep past Canada into semi-final

With no Alexander Zverev in the lineup, Germany had a tough ask at the Davis Cup.

Their first tie at the Final 8 stage in Málaga, Spain, was against 2022 champions Canada, also without their star player in Felix Auger-Aliassime, yet still packed with talent.

Germany may have been without the men's tennis world number two, but thanks to two outstanding performances from Daniel Altmaier and Jan-Lennard Struff (pictured above), they sealed a commanding 2-0 win to advance to the semi-finals on Wednesday (20 November).

Altmaier took down Gabriel Diallo of Canada 7-6(5), 6-4 before the big-serving Struff squeaked by Denis Shapovalov 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(5) in two hours and seven minutes.

“I believe it was a very good, tough game,” Struff said in his post-match press conference. “It was tough to read the serve. The court is pretty fast. It was tough to stay calm, because he was playing pretty well.

"[I'm] just happy to get it over the line. We are in the semis now, we are very happy.”

No Zverev? No problem for Team Deutschland.

Daniel Altmaier overcomes nerves to kick off with a win

When Zverev announced last month that he would not be heading to the Davis Cup finals, having played the last two years in the qualifiers, Germany had their nominations clear albeit without their talisman.

That is not to take away from Altmaier and Struff, who more than proved themselves worthy in the quarter-final.

It was the former up first, the 26-year-old coming up against the youngster Diallo in the opening match of the tie. Altmaier dispatched his opponent calmly to set his teammate up nicely to finish off the job.

He put in a composed performance, even if the man from North-Rhine Westphalia did not feel like that.

“Definitely the nerves were a lot,” Altmaier admitted after the match in his press conference. “I [was] saying to the captain [Michael Kohlmann] in the morning when I was warming up I was really nervous, for coming up to the match, which I guess helps me a lot to communicate this openly, to [not] hide away my nerves.

“I have been really open with that, and I guess that helped me a lot to get into the match and just accept the way I feel, which is completely normal being in this position.”

Jan-Lennard Struff steps up in Zverev’s absence

Struff has struggled with injury as of recent and faced a mammoth challenge against Shapovalov, who took the first set to keep Canada alive in the tie.

The world number 43, or ‘Struffi’ as he is affectionately known by the German fans, had to combat Shapovalov’s ferocious lefty serve and pick his moments wisely.

And pick his moments he did, Struff capturing the momentum after dropping the opener to Shapovalov. The match had hardly anything between the pair, as the 34-year-old leant into his experience to send Germany into the semis.

Missing out on the quality of Zverev could hurt later on, but captain Kohlmann will be pleased to have an assured veteran among his ranks in Struff.

There was a note of personal pride for Struff too, getting his sixth win over Shapovalov and two years on from his victory at the same stage in the 2022 Davis Cup Finals.

Doubles champions Krawietz and Puetz waiting in the wings

Germany can breathe easy now and focus on Friday’s (22 November) semi-finals having got the job done inside the opening two matches.

Nonetheless, they were in a unique position where their secret weapon will only be utilised if absolutely necessary.

Doubles pair Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz, who are fresh off winning the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy, were ready and waiting in the wings.

For now, at least, they did not need to be called on, perhaps a crucial factor ahead of their crunch final four clash with the Dutch.

They will be fresher having yet to play a match, while the Dutch had to play a marathon doubles decider to overcome hosts Spain and reach the final four themselves.

Rest assured, there looks to be more to come from this German side.