Germany edge Greece in ATP Cup thriller
Team Germany saved six match points, beating the underdog Team Greece 2-1 at the ATP Cup in Brisbane.
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In the opening singles rubber, world number 487 Michail Pervolarakis took on world number 35 Jan-Lennard Struff. The Greek surprisingly broke the German for a 3-2 lead early in the first set. However, Struff immediately broke back in the next game, and ultimately took the set 6-4. Struff then cruised through the second set, taking it 6-1 to give Team Germany a 1-0 lead overall.
The second singles rubber was a battle between world number six Stefanos Tsitsipas and world number seven Alexander Zverev. With the score level at 1-1 in the first set, the Greek reeled off five consecutive games to win it 6-1. Despite then trailing 0-2 in the second set, Tsitsipas came back to win it 6-4, levelling the overall score at 1-1 and sending the tie to a decisive doubles rubber. This was Tsitsipas’ fifth consecutive win over Zverev, and the Greek now leads the head-to-head series 5-1 over the German. Zverev particularly struggled on serve, hitting 10 double faults in eight service games.
The Greeks were then massive underdogs in the doubles rubber, with Pervolarakis and Tsitsipas taking on one of the top doubles teams in the world in Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies. Krawietz and Mies finished 2019 as the third best doubles team in the world, but the Greeks shockingly went on to win the last three games of the first set to take it 6-3. However, the Germans responded by winning the second set 6-3 to force a match tiebreak.
The Greeks quickly raced out to a 5-0 lead in the match tiebreak. Nevertheless, the Germans soon came back to reduce Greece’s lead to 6-5. Greece held six match points (at 9-8, 11-10, 12-11, 13-12, 14-13, and 15-14), but could not convert on any of their chances. The Germans, who won the doubles title together at the 2019 French Open, won the match 17-15 after converting on their second match point, giving Team Germany a 2-1 victory over Greece.
Greece have now been eliminated from the ATP Cup, but will still play their final Group F tie against Australia on January 7 at 5:30 PM local time (9:30 AM Greece time). It should be mentioned that Australia have already won the group and booked their spot in the quarterfinals.
GERMANY 2, GREECE 1:
Jan-Lennard Struff (Germany) def. Michail Pervolarakis (Greece) 6-4 6-1
Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece) def. Alexander Zverev (Germany) 6-1 6-4
Krawietz/Mies (Germany) def. Pervolarakis/Tsitsipas (Greece) 3-6 6-3 17-15
