The German Davis Cup team led by captain Michael Kohlmann and chief consultant Boris Becker will play host Spain in Valencia for the semi-finals. This was announced by the Spanish Tennis Association on Monday.
The meeting will take place in the 10,600 spectators of the bullfighting arena “Plaza de Toros” on sand. However, the formal approval of the ITF is still lacking.
“Going away against Spain in the Davis Cup is always a big challenge – no matter who stands on the other side of the net. A backdrop like the Valencia bullfighting arena will certainly create an emotional atmosphere,”said Kohlmann:” In our recent victory in Brisbane, we have proven that we can keep our cool heads and defeat strong opponents even in such situations.
In Australia, the German Tennis Association (DTB) won 3:1 in Australia, thus reaching the quarter-finals of the traditional team competition for the first time in four years. While young star Alexander Zverev (Hamburg) has already confirmed his commitment to the duel with the favourite Spaniards, the start of the superstar Rafael Nadal is still questionable on the part of the hosts.
The 16-time Grand Slam winner had most recently struck for his country in September 2016 in the promotion round to the World Group in doubles. Nadal was injured at the opening match against Great Britain at the beginning of February.