The tennis doubles players Kevin Krawietz (32) and Tim Pütz (36) were surprised by their strong performance at the season finale. “This is simply no longer the norm if you look at the year,” said Pütz after the next brilliant game, with which the two of them already wrote a chapter in German tennis history. “We’re trying not to assume that the way we played is normal,” he said, “because that can only lead to disappointment because it was very, very good in the last two matches.”
With two wins in the first two group games, Krawietz/Pütz are already confirmed as semi-finalists in their first joint appearance at the ATP Finals – as the first German doubles team in the 55-year history of the tournament. The eight best doubles of the year will compete in Turin. Krawietz/Pütz are the eighth best team in the field of participants.
Saturday is about making it to the final
Unimpressed by the large crowd, which is rarely seen in a doubles competition, the German Davis Cup duo defeated the Italian local heroes Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori 7:5, 6:4 in Turin. At the start, the US Open finalists defeated the number one seeded Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic (El Salvador/Croatia).
The final group game against Rohan Bopanna/Matthew Ebden (India/Australia) is on Friday (11.30 a.m./Sky), before the finals are on Saturday.
The success also comes as a surprise because Pütz had to take a break for several weeks shortly before the ATP Finals due to a torn muscle fiber in his calf. “I could barely move a week and a half ago,” he said. “It’s probably not the ideal preparation, but maybe that’s one reason why it’s so relaxed. The fact that we can play here is actually a bonus.”
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