(Munich) The German team will evolve without its leader Alexander Zverev, ex-world No.2, who has not played since his serious injury in the semi-finals at Roland-Garros in June, during the final phase of the Davis Cup in Malaga, Spain, its captain, Michael Kohlmann, announced on Monday.
Posted at 9:47 a.m.
“Alexander Zverev will not be available for the Davis Cup”, explained the German Federation in a press release in which it reveals the names of the five players selected by Michael Kohlmann to play in the final phase of the Davis Cup in Malaga (November 22-27) .
To face Canada in the quarter-finals on November 24, Kohlmann has called up Oscar Otte, Jan-Lennard Struff and Yannick Hanfmann for the singles, while Tim Pütz and Kevin Krawietz will be the doubles. These five players are the same as those who qualified Germany in the 1er tour in Hamburg mid-September.
Seriously injured (tearing of the three external ligaments of the right ankle) in the semi-finals of Roland-Garros against Rafael Nadal at the beginning of June, Alexander Zverev, 25, intended to make his return during this first round of the Davis Cup in his hometown.
But he had given up at the last moment, acknowledging that he had forced his rehabilitation too much. An edema in the right ankle had been diagnosed, with a risk of fracture. “I have to be careful, otherwise it can become dangerous for the future,” he explained.
He then recognized that a return to competition was counted “in weeks”, or even “more likely in months”.
Carlos Alcaraz, leader of Spain
In the absence of Rafael Nadal, the young Carlos Alcaraz, world number one, will be the leader of the Spain team for the final phase of the Davis Cup.
PHOTO PABLO MORANO, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Carlos Alcaraz
Alcaraz will be the figurehead of a Spanish team also made up of Pablo Carreño, Roberto Bautista and Marcel Granollers, captain Sergi Bruguera announced in a video posted on the social networks of the Spanish tennis federation (RFET).
Bruguera decided to wait to announce the fifth player.
“There’s still a month left and I’d like to take a little extra time to assess the performance of all possible candidates between now and the end of the year. The last name I will announce when the ATP tournaments are over. I would still have two weeks to announce it,” Bruguera explained.
In the list, a major absentee: Rafael Nadal, world N.2, was not part of the last lists of Spain either, in agreement with Bruguera, said the Spanish press.
In the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup, Spain will face Croatia, having validated their ticket as first in Group B ahead of Canada, Serbia and South Korea.