Who will fill Auger-Aliassime and Zverev's Davis Cup absences?
Alexander Zverev and Félix Auger-Aliassime will be absent for the Canada-Germany Davis Cup quarter-final. The match takes place on Wednesday in Malaga.
At stake: a place in the semi-finals. As a reminder, Germany reached this stage of the competition in 2021, while Canada won the 2022 edition by beating Australia 2-0.
The contenders
The absence of each team's top players means that the second knives will be in the spotlight. Without Zverev or Auger-Aliassime, Jan-Lennard Struff and Denis Shapovalov will be responsible for leading their respective teams to the last four.
These two players already faced each other in the Davis Cup two years ago. Struff got the better of Shapovalov in the tie-break of the third set. However, Canada still managed to win the match 2-1.
Pre-match statements
Denis Shapovalov: "We know they have a very good doubles team. Clearly, our aim is to win both singles (...) The ideal scenario would be to win 2-0, but we know it will be difficult."
For his part, Jan-Lennard Struff declares: "We're a great team and we're giving it our all. We also have tremendous support from the whole group. It's incredible to experience these Davis Cup weeks. I'm very happy to be representing my country again."
