Defeat Germany, Netherlands Advances To Davis Cup Final For The First Time

Botic Van de Zandschulp (tennisnerd)

JAKARTA - The Netherlands became the finalist for Davis Cup for the first time after being successful in the singles against Germany in Malaga, Friday, November 22 local time.

Botic Van de Zandschulp and Tallon Griekspoor won over Daniel Altmaier and Jan-Lennard Struff to take the Netherlands to the final round.

A 2-0 win for the Netherlands was their second win of eight games against Germany and came three days after they got rid of the Spanish side in the quarter-finals emotionally.

Griekspoor knelt after ensuring a historic victory for the Dutch team with the 25th ace in the match, and called the success a "extraordinary" feeling, which was also approved by Dutch captain Paul Haarhuis.

"To me, this means a lot, I will be a finalist for the first time in the Davis Cup!" Haarhuis said, quoted from Davis Cup's official website quoting between.

"Being part of a team that has played very well over the past five years. Of course it is very unique that we did it because we don't have the top five or 10 players. This year we feel it's time for us to qualify for the quarter-finals."

When asked about their prospects for the final, where they will face semifinalist winners who will compete on Saturday, Italy and Australia, Haarhuis talks about fighting.

"We have played very well, the players have gained a lot of confidence from this win. Another team is strong. I think we have to perform with -- forgive my language -- great courage on Sunday. This is our moment," said Haarhuis.

Griekspoor gave a decisive second point in the match against Struff. The two of them have previously competed against each other, in a tight five-set in the first round of the US Open in 2021. At that time Griekspoor also won, and also needed a hard effort to win this time.

After losing the first tie-breaking without making a big mistake, Griekspoor struggled and finally won the first break of the match in the 11th game of the second set.

That puts Griekspoor on the path to the determination set, where Struff gave him an initial break after doing a smash to the net. But after that, Griekspoor maintained the lead and the game ended with a score of 6-7(4) 7-5 6-4.

Previously, teammate Van de Zandschulp was also forced to play all out by his German opponent Altmaier, in a match where he worked hard to win straight sets.

A lot of tension and tense moments. The Dutchman finally ended the game after two hours and 46 minutes, at his 10th match point, 6-4 6-7 6-3.