Davis Cup: ÖTV-WhatsApp Group orders Sand, Ofner is recommended

The return to the world group should therefore be made clear on sand: This was decided by the team itself, as Captain Stefan Koubek explained in Graz.

I guess it’s okay to ask. But that is exactly what Austria’s Davis Cup boss Stefan Koubek did, as he told the Kleine Zeitung at the press conference of the Austrian Tennis Association (ÖTV) in Graz. The result: sand as a base for the home game against Australia from 14 to 16 September in the Styrian capital.

“I asked our players via WhatsApp what ground they wanted to play on and suggested sand because that’s where Australia is most vulnerable – and everyone who responded agreed with me,” Koubek said. The former world-class player was not elicited by those who failed to provide feedback from his team.

Routine rider Jürgen Melzer, for example, prefers a rather faster run. Austria’s strategy will focus on top Austrian player Dominic Thiem. He will play on US hard court in the weeks before (in Cincinnati, Toronto and at the US Open). And for as long as possible.

Thiem has yet to make a commitment, but there is great hope that the current number seven in the world will open in Graz. Especially as Thiem played against Romania in Wels last year and also surprisingly against Belarus at the beginning of this year.

Koubek, in any case, is optimistic – and confirms in the same breath that he would like a second player to impose himself alongside Thiem. For the individual. In doubles, Austria is excellently positioned, especially this year.

Sebastian Ofner has made a start in Aix-en-Provence: The Styrian defeated Sergiy Stakhovsky from Ukraine in three sets. Andreas Haider-Maurer is returning to Rome this week to play against Kevin Krawietz from Germany.