Davis Cup: Germany pull off comeback win to set up semifinal clash against Spain

NEW DELHI: Germany bounced back from an opening singles defeat on Thursday to beat Argentina 2-1 and set up a Davis Cup semifinal against Spain.

Argentina’s Tomas Etcheverry fired 23 aces to earn a straight-sets victory over Jan-Lennart Struff in the last quarterfinal of the day. But the Germans responded with Alexander Zverev’s 6-4, 7-6(3) victory over Francisco Cerundolo to send the tie into yet another doubles decider.

There was drama in the decider that lasted almost two-and-a-half hours. Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos and Andres Molteni saved four match points but wasted two themselves in the third set tiebreak before Germany’s Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz battled back to a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(10) victory to send their team to the last four.

In the semifinals, the Germans will meet Spain, which had earlier staged a comeback win against Czechia, despite playing without World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz.

In the other semifinal, host Italy, which is missing World No. 2 Jannik Sinner and World No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti, is eyeing a Davis Cup “three-peat” after easing past Austria in Bologna on Wednesday to set up a semifinal clash against Belgium. Agencies

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