On, on and on in global play: Felt balls flew over the net in New York until Sunday night, and since Tuesday they’ve been hissing back and forth under the white ceiling at Rothenbaum in Hamburg. The Davis Cup intermediate round follows the US Open at Flushing Meadows almost uninterruptedly, the sport of the most powerful soloists being replaced by the sport of the tennis team: a competition whose tradition can be traced back to 1900 and whose The format was originally reworked in 2019.
Games this week will be played in four cities at the same time: in Hamburg, where German Davis Cup captain Michael Kohlmann has gathered his men, in Glasgow, in Bologna and in Valencia. Tennis world number one Carlos Alcaraz, 19, arrived on an intercontinental flight on Tuesday, having duel at Flushing Meadows until last Sunday. And who will now have to leave his Spanish team behind trying to reach the final round without taking a deep breath.
Sixteen nations play in groups of four; The top eight teams will meet again in November in Malaga to decide 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 rivals 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. 25-year-old Olympic champion Alexander Zverev, who was planning to return to the court after a serious injury and several torn ligaments in the ankle, is now suffering from bone swelling in the operated leg and can only promise his colleagues moral support from the bench. Huh.
The right to serve was initially due to the Belgium and Australia national tennis teams at Rothenbaum in Hamburg on Tuesday. In the first singles, 28-time Davis Cup winners Australia took a 1–0 lead as debutant Jason Kugler defeated Zizo Burges (6–4, 1–6, 6–3). Meanwhile, the DTB selection around Jan-Lenard Struff and Oscar Otte amused themselves with the variations of the ball game they felt. Following Zverev’s new injury, his team “will come even closer together”, believed team boss Kohlmann before the duel against the French, and doubles specialist Kevin Kravitz also expressed confidence: “We have It has shown that we can win against every team.” Ball flight starts for them on Wednesday (Live on Dazn/Servus TV) at 2 PM.
