The German Davis Cup team will have to do without Alexander Zverev at the finals in Malaga. The German number one canceled the tournament at the end of November in order to have enough time to recover before the new season.
“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 said.
“Difficult decision”
“I am forced to make the difficult decision to end the season after the ATP Finals so that I have enough time to recover and be back to 100 percent for the United Cup and Australian Open.”said the German number one. The United Cup starts again on December 27th, Germany as defending champions will play their first game against Brazil on December 29th.
Zverev has been struggling with breathing problems and coughing for months. After the Laver Cup in Berlin he was diagnosed with pneumonia. This week Zverev is playing at the Masters 1000 tournament in Paris, and the ATP Finals will take place in Turin from November 10th. Then Zverev goes on vacation.
Altmaier is the fifth player
Team boss Michael Kohlmann nominated Daniel Altmaier as the fifth player. Kohlmann had previously appointed Jan-Lennard Struff, Yannick Hanfmann and the two doubles specialists Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz.
Germany will face Canada in the quarter-finals in Malaga on November 20th. If they win, they would play in the semi-finals against the winner of the duel between Netherlands and Spain. For the Spanish world star Rafael Nadal, the Davis Cup Finals are the last appearance of his career.
