By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, November 22, 2025
Photo: Davis Cup Facebook
The pair will set up a trip to the Davis Cup final the following day.
Alexander Zverev defeated Jaume Munar 7-6(2), 7-6(5) to keep Germany’s Davis Cup hopes alive today.
“Happy for the win,” said Zverev. “I don’t feel better, but happy to win for our team.”
Zverev tied Germany with Spain 1-1 after the 34-year-old Pablo Carreno Busta denied five set points in the tiebreaker, ending the 35-year-old German Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 7-6(6) in the opening match of today’s semifinals at Bologna’s SuperTennis Arena.
The winner of the decisive doubles match will win this semi-final and advance to tomorrow’s Davis Cup final against two-time defending champions Italy, who defeated Belgium yesterday.
Hitting with heavy arms, Zverev scored first blood for 2-1. A backhand winner on the line helped the German get the break back for 3-1.
A shrewd Munar blundered on the first forehand to return to 3-all.
Serving at 5, Munar was down 15-30 when he used a sharp serve-and-volley to fire it to a hold for 6-5.
At that point, Zverev raised his serve to another level.
Germany no. 1 hit aces on four of five service points, sealing a shot with an ace wide to force the tiebreaker.
Zverev grabbed the ace in three of the first seven service points to take a 5-2 lead. On his first match point, Zverev hit a backhand winner down the line to grab a one-set lead after 57 minutes of play.
The former Olympic gold medalist served 83 per cent pumping seven aces against no double faults in the first set.
After all that good work, Zverev closed his eyes first by distributing a drive as Munar reached 30 for a 2-1 lead in the second set.
An hour and 23 minutes into the match, Zverev doggedly defended his forehand corner, then stepped forward and hit a swinging backhand volley for 3rd.
In the second set tiebreak, Zverev lost a forehand to give up the opening break.
Munar saved two match points, including a high volley to close out the score at 5-6.
On his third match point, Zverev played serve and volleyed by hammering a T serve and then rose for a forehand to seal it in one hour and 59 minutes and set up a decisive deuce.
Earlier, Carreno Busta took on Struff in a dramatic opening match.
The 84th-ranked Struff avoided three match points by serving at 4-5. Struff hit a heavy serve to save the first match point, hit a forehand winner to save the second match point and put a volley down the line to sweep the third match point on a strong hold to tie it at 5-all.
When Struff went up 6-1 in the tiebreaker, a third set seemed inevitable, but Carreno Busta had other ideas.
Carreno Busta staged a masterful comeback from 1-6 down in the second set tiebreaker. Veteran Carreno Busta battled back from five straight sets to break seven in a row to seal his 6-4, 7-6(6) triumph over Struff and give Spain a 1-0 lead.
