Stan Wawrinka rolled again the years to fireplace Switzerland into the group stage of the Davis Cup by Rakuten Finals for the primary time because the guests accomplished a surprising 3-2 turnaround triumph in opposition to Germany in Trier.

The Germans had regarded destined to win the 2023 Qualifier tie when Tim Puetz and Andreas Mies gave the hosts a 2-1 lead earlier on Saturday after beating Wawrinka and Dominic Stricker within the doubles, with world No. 14 Alexander Zverev ready within the wings to shine off the tie.

But Swiss No. 1 Marc-Andrea Huesler tore up the script, completely executing his gameplan to stun Zverev in straight units and provides 37-year-old Wawrinka — a 2014 Davis Cup champion — the possibility to safe Switzerland’s progress to the group stage in September.

“I’m happy I won one point and the last one was the most important,” mentioned Wawrinka. “[Marc] played super well against Zverev. He put us back in the tie after losing the doubles.”

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Stan Wawrinka wins the tie for Switzerland with a match level drop shot 🤩#DavisCup | @stanwawrinka | @swiss_tennis pic.twitter.com/iw8w3Afw6p

— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) February 4, 2023

Though Wawrinka will rightly earn the plaudits for his decisive victory, it was a real workforce effort in Trier — with Huesler including two essential singles wins and 20-year-old Stricker, the boys’ singles champion at 2020 Roland Garros, underlining his potential, albeit in defeat, alongside Wawrinka within the doubles.

The left-handed Stricker was spectacular all through their slim 6-7(3) 6-3 6-4 doubles loss, notably on his highly effective forehand flank, and with 21-year-old Leandro Riedi additionally within the squad, the Swiss indicators are optimistic for the years to come back.

“We have a great team,” mentioned Wawrinka. “They’ve been constructing this workforce for the previous couple of years. I used to be completely happy to come back again in the event that they want me to assist. I’m the oldest by far, however we had a terrific week. We had been actually serving to one another — it was a terrific week for us.”

Zverev, after beating Wawrinka on Friday, couldn’t produced an identical show in opposition to Huesler. The German was given few alternatives by the world No. 53, who attacked his serve — notably the second — all through the fourth rubber and barely relinquished his grip throughout a 6-2 7-6(3) triumph.

“He performed extraordinarily nicely,” conceded Zverev. “He played very aggressive, didn’t let me go into the rallies. I think it was also a very tactical move by him not to really go into rallies with me.”

Huesler’s victory was his fourth over a Top 20 participant –=— including to his ATP scalps of then world No. 12 Fabio Fognini at Kitzbuhel in 2020, and Pablo Carreno Busta (Sofia) and Jannik Sinner (Paris) in 2022.

“I’m very happy,” admitted Huesler. “I played a great match from A to Z. I had a clear gameplan that I was following. At the end I was very nervous but I was really happy with the way I was able to close it out.”

Like Wawrinka, Huesler praised his teammates and, regardless of their sudden victory, believes that the Swiss deserve their place again on the competitors’s high desk.

“We have a couple of young guys who are improving every year,” he mentioned. “That’s why we’re right here the place we’re. We’ve actually labored our means as much as this stage.

Czech Republic In Command In Portugal
Jiri Lehecka and Tomas Machac notched hard-earned singles victories to place the Czech Republic in a commanding place after Day 1 of its Davis Cup Qualifier in opposition to Portugal in Maia.

The 21-year-old Lehecka and 22-year-old Machac each dealt with a vibrant ambiance nicely in northern Portugal, the place Nuno Borges after which Joao Sousa battled nicely however had been finally unable to get the house workforce on the board on Saturday.

Lehecka took to the clay contemporary from a run to his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final on the Australian Open. The World No. 39 confirmed some early rust and was damaged serving for the primary set at 5-3 in opposition to Borges. He saved his composure to interrupt once more instantly to say the opener, nonetheless, and one other late break within the tenth recreation of the second set was sufficient to clinch a 6-4, 6-4 triumph in 97 minutes.

“For me, it was very important to try to play a little bit differently than I played in Australia, because of course it’s clay [and] it’s a bit colder,” mentioned Lehecka, when requested about how he had tailored to the circumstances.

“So I would say that is one of the reasons I wasn’t able to find a perfect rhythm in the first and also in the second set.“There were plenty of moments where I just played the way I should play on hard courts, but not here on the clay. For me, I was trying to focus on my serve and in all I would say how I played from the baseline was pretty fine. Sometimes when I had a break point, I was a little too passive, and also he played very good on break points.”

Following Lehecka onto court docket was Machac, who added to his spectacular Davis Cup historical past by downing the four-time ATP Tour titlist Sousa 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-2. Machac upset France’s Richard Gasquet and Great Britain’s Daniel Evans on the 2021 Davis Cup Finals, and he raised his recreation for his nation as soon as once more on Saturday to convey the Czechs inside one rubber of a spot within the group stage on the 2023 Davis Cup Finals.

The World No. 122 Machac struck 39 winners to Sousa’s 23 and transformed 5 of 15 break factors to enhance his Davis Cup singles file to 4-1. The win additionally maintained his nation’s excellent file in opposition to Portugal, with the three-time champion Czech Republic now having received all 12 rubbers between the 2 nations.

This story options contributions from DavisCup.com