three degrees davis cup Champion Germany defeated Canada 2-0 on Wednesday to easily advance to the semifinals.
Jan-Leonard Straff Defeat Dennis Shapovalov 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/5) avenged Germany’s loss to eventual victors Canada in the 2022 quarterfinals.
Daniel Altmaier Defeating Gabriel Diallo 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 in the first singles match gave Germany the lead in the quarter-finals.
Germany last won the tournament in 1993, beating Spain in the semi-finals to face the Netherlands. Rafael Nadal ends 23-year career.
“It was a very good, difficult match, Chapa was constantly serving, first serve and second serve… He was changing direction a lot and it was hard to read the serve,” Straff said.
“The pitch was very fast so it was difficult to stay calm. I managed to stay in the game and in the game…
“We are now in the semi-finals, we are happy and let’s look forward to Friday’s game.”
Shapovalov won the first set against Strav with a beautiful forehand winner, the only break of serve in the tenth game.
The veteran Straff, ranked 43rd in the world, struggled for much of the second set but broke in the 11th game and then held on to hold on to the third set.
The big-serving Shapovalov committed several double faults, one of which resulted in Struff breaking his serve in the third set for a 4-3 lead, just as the Canadian put his racket down in frustration at losing the previous point. Shortly after hitting the floor.
Shapovalov, ranked 56th, made a mistake when Struff served and tied the score at 5-5, dragging the game into a tie-break.
However, the Canadian lost the match with a 13th double fault and earned the draw for the national team.
Altmaier, ranked 88th in the world, led Diallo 5-0 in the first set tie-break and then went on to take the lead.
In the second set, Altmaier saved two break points in the first game and then broke himself in the tenth and final game as Diallo collapsed.
“I hope I can make my team understand that. They were counting on me to deliver and I didn’t, so it’s my responsibility,” Diallo said.
Altmaier admitted he was nervous before the game.
“I’m definitely nervous. I told the captain during warm-up in the morning that I’m really nervous before the game,” he said.
“I think (it) helped me a lot to communicate that openly and not hide my nerves.”
