Daniel Altmaier and Jan-Lennard Struff won their respective singles matches on Wednesday to propel Germany into the semifinals at the Davis Cup in Malaga, Spain.
Altmaier started the day with a 7-6 (5), 6-4 win over Canada’s Gabriel Diallo before Struff rallied to defeat Denis Shapovalov, also of Canada, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5).
Germany secured its first semifinal berth in three years and on Friday will face the Netherlands in pursuit of its fourth Davis Cup title overall and its first since 1993. Canada claimed its only title in 2022.
Altmaier won 75 percent of his first serve points (36 of 48) and committed 18 unforced errors to Diallo’s 46 in a match that lasted three minutes shy of two hours. In the latter match, Struff weathered 27 aces from Shapovalov and capitalized on the Canadian’s 18 enforced errors in the third set to prevail in two hours and seven minutes.
The Netherlands outlasted Spain 2-1 on Tuesday in a quarterfinal battle that proved to be Rafael Nadal’s final professional appearance. The 38-year-old Spaniard won 22 grand slam singles titles over his 23-year career.
–Field Level Media
