Germany’s heroes were sincere after eliminating Argentina from the Davis Cup: “You need a little luck”

Dramatic and emotional outcome occurred this Thursday around midnight in Bologna, Italy, where Germany came away with an exciting victory against Argentina by saving three match points, winning 4-6, 6-4 and 7-6 (10) in the double and advance to the semifinals of the Davis Cup.

After Tomás Etcheverry (60th) scored the first point by beating Jan-Lennard Struff (84th) and Alexander Zverev (3rd) leveled the score by beating Francisco Cerúndolo (21st), the series that defined the last team to reach the top four of the nations event would fall into the hands of Tim Puetz (11th in doubles) and Kevin Krawietz (11th in doubles), who would suffer too much to defeat the albicelestes Horacio Zeballos (5th) and Andrés Molteni (25°) in practically two and a half hours of play.

“It was very nice to play a game like that. Of course it’s easy to say it now that we won. What a great Davis Cup match, what a fantastic atmosphere, especially considering we were in a neutral country! I don’t know what to say, obviously the result could have been anything. I am happy that now we are here as winners,” confessed Puetz, born in Frankfurt 37 years ago and 12-time champion on the men’s circuit, at a press conference.

Along the same lines, Krawietz, a native of Coburg, 33 years old and owner of 13 titles in the Tourattributed a bit of importance to chance: “I agree with Puetzy. In the end, you also need a little luck. That’s doubles, there’s nothing you can do about it. As Puetzy said, I am very happy and proud to be in the semifinals.”

“Obviously we remember some loose points. Maybe not the eight match points. I remember one at 6-3: I returned the second serve well and then he made a very short volley. It was match point for us. The second was at 6-5: Puetzy was a centimeter short on the line and the ball went out. Obviously, on match point I was returning. There were also some complicated points. Michael already said that in the end we were a little lucky“, extended the two-time Roland Garros champion about the catcher tie-breaker.

On the other hand, the participant in the Tokyo 2021 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games referred to the promising duel versus Spain, Czech Republic executioner: “I think overall we have a stronger team right now. We also have Struff and Hanfmann. The Davis Cup is different from the circuit. On paper, they may not be the favorites. Struff has a great record in Davis Cup, Hanfmann too. Obviously they can beat anyone. Sascha is always the favorite now”

“I think we are ready. Also, it’s good to play with the score 1-1. It’s our chance to win another game. “I don’t think we felt a lot of pressure, I see it more as an opportunity,” The one who has a record of 19 wins and just one loss in doubles in the competition finished.