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Waske clinches tie for Germany
Germany will stay in the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group.
The host nation celebrated a 4-1-victory against Thailand
in the World Group Play-offs. Alexander Waske defeated Paradorn
Srichaphan (THA) 64 75 76(12) in two hours and 23 minutes
to gave his team the decisive 3-1 lead. Later Florian Mayer
defeated Sanchai Ratiwatana in the dead rubber 61 63.
Waske's first singles rubber for Germany
For
Waske it was a fantastic win for the 30-year-old who was playing
in his first Davis Cup singles rubber for Germany. “I still
cannot believe it”, Waske said, “a dream came true.” After his
match when he got standing ovations by the 4,000 strong home
crowd he lay down on the clay, overwhelmed emotion. Then Tommy
Haas and Michael Kohlmann carried their teammate on their shoulders
with Waske waving a German flag. “My
goal was to give him no rhythm. I played with a lot of topspin,
dropshots and I served fantastically”, Waske said after his
strong performance with serves of up to 230 kilometres per
hour.
Germany’s
Captain Patrik K?hnen said: “This guy is fantastic. He gives
everything for Germany. He always believes in himself. And
I knew that he could do it”. K?hnen said that the relief was
big after the 0-1-shock after the first rubber.
Tommy Haas too exhausted to play
Waske
who is ranked 74 places lower than Srichaphan replaced Haas.
The decision was made when Haas talked to Captain K?hnen on
Saturday night. “I feel totally exhausted. I didn’t want to
risk another physical breakdown”, Haas said.
In
his first rubber Haas had surprisingly lost to Danai Udomchoke.
Haas had spent one hour having treatment after the match.
K?hnen said: “Tommy wanted to play so badly but he hadn’t
recovered one hundred percent after his exhausting US Open.”
Waske
had no problems producing a very solid performance. In the
first set he broke Srichaphan in the third game. In the fourth
game he faced two breakpoints but he survived the critical
situation.
In
the second set the German had to face three break points in
the seventh game but again he showed his strength to serve
big at critical points. Waske broke his opponent’s serve in
the eleventh game. After one hour and 17 minutes he had the
second set under his belt.
Srichaphan had his chances in the tiebreak
In
the third set both players held serve until the tiebreak.
It was a dramatic breaker with chances on both sides. At 6-5
Waske had his first matchpoint. At 7-6 Srichaphan served for
the set. He had one more set point at 10-9.
“The
first one Waske played too good but the second one I made
an easy mistake. But I have to give credit to Alexander. He
deserved to win. He was the better player”, Srichaphan said.
“He always plays well for his country. I never really had
a chance to break his serve.” Overall he was happy with the
performance of his team.
At
13-12 on serve Waske converted his fifth matchpoint. “I didn’t
think that I could win this”, Waske said. “I am happy that
I did not play Paradorn on hardcourt. Last year in Stockholm
he killed me.”
Germany hope for a good draw on Thursday
Germany
now hopes for a good draw on Thursday in Rome when the 2007
World Group will be decided. “Any home match is fine. But
hopefully we don’t pick France or Russia”, Waske said.
Courtesy
: http://www.daviscup.com
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