Alexander Zverev (20) has led the German Davis Cup team into the quarter-finals of the traditional team competition with his second victory against host Australia after four years.
Born in Hamburg, he won in Brisbane against the slightly beaten Nick Kyrgios after 1:47 hours 6:2,7:6 (7:3), 6:2 and won the point to 3:1.
In the next round (6. till 8. April) Germany will play in Spain or Great Britain for the semi-finals. Most recently, the DTB selection had lost three times in a row in the opening round and only secured its place in the world group of the best 16 teams in the relegation.
“That’s fantastic, an unbelievable feeling,”said Zverev, who had already clinched the first German point on Friday:”Without my team-mates, it wouldn’t have been possible” Jan-Lennard Struff (Warstein) and Tim Pütz (Frankfurt) had taken care of the 2-1 lead on Saturday,”I’m super happy, but hopefully this is just the beginning for us,”said Zverev.
Fifth in the world rankings won the fifth duel with Kyrgios, who was treated in the second set on the right elbow and got more and more problems on the serve, for the second time. Zverev fought off two set points in the second round. Kyrgios cost a tantrum in the tiebreak a point, the 22-year-old smashed his racket, before that he had already shot a ball under the roof of the Pat-Rafter-Arena in frustration.