Islamabad (Sports Desk):-Germany will board a plane to Madrid after Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz once again showcased their doubles prowess to fire their nation to the Davis Cup semi-finals following a tension-filled showdown with Great Britain.
As they had done in both of their previous ties in Innsbruck, two-time Grand Slam doubles champion Krawietz and his partner Puetz rose to the occasion magnificently during a jaw-dropping clash, this time dispatching Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski 7-6(10), 7-6(5).
Germany was earlier teetering on the brink of elimination from the Finals after Great Britain surged into a commanding 1-0 lead following the 62, 61 thrashing of Peter Gojowczyk by a rampant Dan Evans.
However, big-hitting Jan-Lennard Struff hauled his nation level with a gritty 76(6), 36, 62 win against in-form world No. 12 Cameron Norrie, although this was only a prelude to what was to come.
In a high-octane and fabulously entertaining encounter, Krawietz and Puetz saved four set points during a fluctuating first set tiebreak before hauling themselves over the line by converting a fourth set point of their own.
Playing just their sixth match together, three of which have come at these Finals, the intrepid duo then won a second tiebreak to confirm victory, this time recovering from 5-0 down to win 7-5.
Victory ensured Germany ended their six-tie losing streak in Davis Cup quarter-finals and reached the semi-finals for the first time since 2007. They now advance to the Spanish capital where they will face the winners of the last-eight clash between the Russian Tennis Federation (RTF) and Sweden on Saturday.
“I think you could see that after the match point a lot of pressure fell off,” said Germany captain Michael Kohlmann, who was a calm presence throughout the nerve-racking encounter. “I am super happy. I mean, last time we reached the semi-finals was 2007, and that year I played.
“This team is much better than it was at that time, so I think they deserved it. I am extremely happy and extremely proud.”
“Honestly, I don’t know how we pulled that back from 0-5,” said Krawietz. “It’s tough, of course, to start the second tiebreak with 0-5, but we just said, ‘point by point’ then maybe we have a chance in this tiebreak.
“Then we served twice and we were 2-5. We said, ‘okay, let’s try to make one point out of two. Then we turned it around. It’s a crazy game at times.”
Great Britain, meanwhile, who were crowned Davis Cup champions in 2015, were bidding to reach the fourth semi-final of Leon Smith’s captaincy reign and equal, at the very least, their performance at the 2019 Finals in Madrid. The disappointment within their camp was palpable.
The possibility of a Germany victory was made possible, in the first instance, by world No. 51 Struff and his defeat of Norrie, which ensured an already absorbing and enthralling tie went the distance.
Following an early break of serve, Struff surged into a 3-0 lead in the opening set before Norrie instigated a comeback, winning three successive games to level before a swift exchange of service breaks forced a tiebreak.
Left-hander Norrie engineered his way into a 6-4 tiebreak lead but failed to convert his two set points – something that would become a theme of the tie – allowing Struff to work his way back into contention and take the opening set.
Norrie, however, has been in blistering form this season and last month became the first Briton to top the podium at Indian Wells, so was always likely to strike back. He duly did midway through the second set, breaking the Struff serve to go 4-2 up from where he successfully negotiated the remainder of proceedings.
The third set followed a similar template only for the roles to be reversed. Struff flexed his muscles to break Norrie and power into a 4-2 lead, with the 31-year-old refusing to relinquish his grip, sending the tie to a deciding doubles.
