Kevin Krawietz (right) and Tim Puetz score the set point against UK’s Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski (not pictured) during the men’s doubles quarter-final at the Davis Cup tennis tournament on Tuesday. AFP
Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz beat British doubles pair Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski in two tight sets to send Germany through to the Davis Cup semi-finals on November 30.
The Germans saved four set points in a tense opening tie-break in the decisive rubber in Innsbruck before edging in front.
Salisbury and Skupski looked destined to force a third set after surging 5-0 ahead in another tie-break, but Krawietz and Puetz won the final seven points to book a clash with Russia or Sweden in Madrid on November 27.
“It’s great, it’s an unbelievable feeling,” said German captain Michael Kohlmann.
“We had super team chemistry. We had a tough loss today and on Sunday and this team is capable of getting over these unexpected things.”
Dan Evans had swatted Peter Gojowczyk aside 6-2, 6-1 in just 55 minutes to give Britain, playing without brothers Andy and Jamie Murray, the lead.
But Jan-Lennard Struff defeated British No1 Cameron Norrie 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 6-2 to pull Germany level at 1-1.
World No51 Struff saved two set points in the opener and broke the 12th-ranked Norrie twice in the decider to set up a winner-takes-all showdown in the doubles.
“I’m very happy the way I played today, Cam Norrie is a very tough competitor, who is fighting very hard,” said Struff.
“It’s tough – I had the feeling I had to put the pressure on him – I made it today.”
Norrie fell 4-1 behind in the first set but broke twice and was serving for it at 6-5. Struff, Germany’s top singles player in the absence of Alexander Zverev, promptly hit back to take the set to a tie-break.
Indian Wells champion Norrie led 6-4 only to see Struff reel off the final four points to snatch the first set.
A single break earned Norrie the second set, but Struff kept Germany in the competition by closing out victory with four games in a row.
Earlier, world No25 Evans won the first four games of the match against Gojowczyk and broke five times to complete a convincing victory.
Gojowczyk, ranked 86th, was given the nod ahead of Dominik Koepfer for the opening rubber but struggled badly on serve and double-faulted four times in two games as Evans raced into a 4-0 lead.
Evans broke three more times in a one-sided second set, rebounding well from a shock loss to Czech world No143 Tomas Machac in the group stage on Sunday.
Croatia became the first team to reach the semi-finals on Monday by defeating Italy 2-1. They await the winner of Wednesday’s quarter-final between Novak Djokovic’s Serbia and Kazakhstan.
