The German tennis team has to do without Alexander Zverev at the final round of the Davis Cup in Malaga. The 27-year-old third in the world rankings canceled the tournament at the end of November in order to take longer to recover. “It was a very demanding season in which I had to play through a knee injury in order to be able to take part in the Olympic Games. Now I’m doing my best to finish the season well despite problems with my lungs,” Zverev is quoted as saying in a DTB statement. He made the “difficult decision” to “be back to 100 percent for the United Cup and the Australian Open.” The United Cup starts on December 27th.
After Zverev’s cancellation, Davis Cup captain Michael Kohlmann nominated Daniel Altmaier from Kempen, number 82 in the world, as the fifth player for the final round in southern Spain (November 19th to 24th). Jan-Lennard Struff will be the German number one in the national competition. The line-up is completed by Yannick Hanfmann and the world-class doubles Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz. The DTB team will face Canada in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup on November 20th. If they advance, they will play against hosts Spain or the Netherlands two days later. Zverev is playing at the ATP Masters in Paris this week.
