Málaga (Spain). Jan-Lennard Struff and Daniel Altmaier won their respective matches as Germany defeated Canada 2-0 to reach the Davis Cup semi-finals on Wednesday. Germany made it to the quarter-finals for the first time since 2019 and defeated Canada easily. Altmaier overcame an early jitters to beat Gabriel Diallo in straight sets 7-6(5) 6-4, before Struff somehow won a thrilling match against Denis Shapovalov 4-6 7-5 7-6(5 ) won by. “Today I think both players deserved to win,” Struff said. “But I’m happy to get the win in the end.
Dennis was playing brilliantly, he served brilliantly throughout the match. It was difficult to come back. Even in the tiebreak, he hit some winners. It was a very close match.” The victory set the stage for a semi-final clash between Germany and the Netherlands, when the Dutch defeated Spain to end Rafael Nadal’s tennis career on Tuesday night. Struff was excited to play against old sporting rivals. “It would be amazing,” he said. “For us to go from the quarter-finals to the semi-finals is a big step. We want to win and go to the final now.” The German star said: “The Netherlands played a great match. We’re expecting a tough match. We know there’s a bit of a rivalry between the Germans and the Dutch and the Dutch have amazing fans, so I’m really looking forward to it. “
Shapovalov will regret missed chances against an opponent who also defeated him in a third-set tiebreak at this event in 2022. The Canadian player remained unbeaten at times, hitting 27 aces and 24 winners. But he also missed 13 free points with a double fault, including the gift of handing the match to his opponent. Earlier, in the opening match, both the players looked apprehensive during the first set. Altmaier let go of a 5–0 lead in the tiebreak and then won 7–5. The second set was better and this was possible only when the German player came back from 15-40 down and broke the Canadian player’s serve in the tenth game and won the match.
