Alexander Zverev aims for Davis Cup return next month

Davis Cup
Alexander Zverev

Alexander Zverev is aiming to return to competitive tennis in the upcoming Davis Cup Finals Group Stage.

Zverev revealed that he was close to being fit for the US Open but needed about two more weeks to be ready.

The World No 2 has been out of action since limping out of his Roland Garros semi-final against Rafael Nadal.

Zverev pulled out of the US Open earlier this week but returned to the practice court nonetheless and has indicated that he intends to keep his commitment to representing Germany in the Davis Cup in his hometown of Hamburg.

”I’m super happy where I am right now,” Zverev wrote on social media.

“It was a tough decision… The way the recovery is going, I don’t want to take the risk right now and play a best-of-five match as my first match back.

“I will of course be watching the tournament,” Zverev said.

“Unfortunately I didn’t have another week or two to be 100 percent fit,” he added.

Zverev’s Germany are set to do battle with France, Belgium and Australia in Group C of the Davis Cup Finals Group stage which will play out at Am Rothenbaum in Hamburg from 13 September.

The team will be massively bolstered by the return of Zverev, who will be joined by Davis Cup debutant Oscar Otte, who has reached semi-finals in Munich, Stuttgart and Halle this year, and Germany stalwart Jan-Lennard Struff.

Germany are expected to use experienced pairing Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz as their doubles combination.

Davis Cup captain Michael Kohlmann has directed Germany’s efforts in the men’s team competition since 2015 with their best performance under his charge coming last season when they reached the semi-finals only to lose to Russia.

Germany have not won the Davis Cup since 1993 when they lifted the famous trophy for the third time.

As for Germany’s opponents in the group, France has been hit hard by injury with Gael Monfils ruled out with a heel injury leaving Benjamin Bonzi and 34-year-old Adrian Mannarino as the top singles stars available.

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The French can call on Nicolas Mahut in the doubles but look likely to be up against it with Belgium also able to call on their star man David Goffin.

Australia have a rich Davis Cup history as well although they won’t be able to call on Nick Kyrgios.

They can, however, count on World no 20 Alex de Minaur and doubles ace Thanasi Kokkinakis who also did his part in the singles in qualifying.

Australia’s Davis Cup skipper Lleyton Hewitt is likely to use the Wimbledon-winning pairing of Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell as the doubles combination.

The Davis Cup Finals Group Stage features 16 teams split into four groups of four nations.

Each Group will play out in a different country with Group A playing out in Bologna, Italy; Group B in Valencia, Spain and Group D in Glasgow.

Malaga will host the knockout phase of the Davis Cup Finals from 22-27 November 2022.

Davis Cup teams

GROUP A: Bologna

Croatia: Marin Cilic, Borna Coric, Borna Gojo, Mate Pavic, Nikola Mektic. Captain – Vedran Martic

Italy: Jannik Sinner, Matteo Berrettini, Lorenzo Musetti, Fabio Fognini, Simone Bolelli. Captain – Filippo Volandri

Argentina: Diego Schwartzman, Francisco Cerundolo, Sebastian Baez, Horacio Zeballos, Maximo Gonzalez. Captain – Guillermo Coria

Sweden: Mikael Ymer, Elias Ymer, Jonathan Mridha, Karl Friberg, Andre Goransson. Captain – Johan Hedsberg

GROUP B: Valencia

Spain: Carlos Alcaraz, Pablo Carreño, Roberto Bautista, Alejandro Davidovich, Marcel Granollers. Captain – Sergi Bruguera

Canada: Vasek Pospisil, Alexis Galarneau, Liam Draxl, Gabriel Diallo, Cleeve Harper. Captain – Frank Dancevic

Serbia: Novak Djokovic, Miomir Kecmanovic, Filip Krajinovic, Laslo Djere, Dusan Lajovic. Captain – Viktor Troicki

Korea Republic: Soonwoo Kwon, Seongchan Hong, JiSung Nam, MinKyu Song. Captain – Seungkyu Park

GROUP C: Hamburg

France: Benjamin Bonzi, Adrian Mannarino, Arthur Rinderknech, Nicolas Mahut. Captain – Sebastien Grosjean

Germany: Alexander Zverev, Oscar Otte, Jan-Lennard Struff, Tim Puetz, Kevin Krawietz. Captain – Michael Kohlmann

Belgium: David Goffin, Zizou Bergs, Michael Geerts, Sander Gille, Joran Vliegen. Captain – Johan Van Herck

Australia: Alex de Minaur, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Matthew Ebden, Max Purcell. Captain – Lleyton Hewitt.

GROUP D: Glasgow

USA: Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, Jack Sock, Rajeev Ram. Captain – Mardy Fish

Great Britain: Cameron Norrie, Daniel Evans, Andy Murray, Joe Salisbury. Captain – Leon Smith (A fifth player will be announced at a later date)

Kazakhstan: Alexander Bublik, Dmitry Popko, Mikhail Kukushkin, Andrey Golubev, Aleksandr Nedovyesov. Captain – Yuriy Schukin

Netherlands: Botic van de Zandschulp, Tallon Griekspoor, Tim van Rijthoven, Wesley Koolhof, Matwe Middelkoop. Captain – Paul Haarhuis

Alexander Zverev

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