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Canada beat Germany in the 2022 Davis Cup quarterfinals on Thursday to set up a semifinal meeting with Italy.
For the second time this week, a German team lost an important sporting encounter 2-1. After Japan beat Germany 2-1 in the ongoing FIFA World Cup on Wednesday, German tennis stars Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz lost the deciding match against Canada's Denis Shapovalov and Vasek Pospisil 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, ending Germany's journey in this year's Davis Cup.
Before the doubles encounter, Jan-Lennard Struff downed Shapovalov 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(2), and World No. 6 Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Oscar Otte 7-6(1), 6-4.
In a press conference after the match, 25th-ranked Krawietz expressed his disappointment at losing the doubles match and found similarities with his country's recent football defeat against Japan in Qatar.
"Yeah, very disappointed, of course. It's a tough loss for us. But I think the whole team showed that we can compete with everybody. It doesn't matter who is playing for us," Krawietz said. "Yeah, as Michael said, Struffi played an unbelievable match. Also, Oscar played at a very good level."
"Yeah, like the German soccer team, they also played unbelievable for 60 minutes. Maybe we too. Only the first set and then we cannot finish it. Yeah, it happens. Of course, very disappointing. We wanted to help the team with the second point but could not make it today. Then, yeah, they deserved to win," he added.
After Argentina's loss to Saudi Arabia earlier this week, Japan stunned four-time World Cup winners Germany in a Group E match a couple of days ago. Germany looked to be in control with a 1-0 lead before Japan bounced back to score in the 75th and 83rd minutes to win 2-1.
"Canadians were playing on a different level" - Germany captain Michael Kohlmann on Davis Cup loss
Speaking at a press conference after bowing out of the 2022 Davis Cup on Thursday, former player and German captain Michael Kohlmann praised the players of both Germany and Canada for producing a high level of tennis. He stated that after the first set in the doubles match, the Canadians stepped up and deserved to win.
"In the doubles, they started brilliantly, I thought. The first set was unbelievable. Then we couldn't carry the momentum a little bit," Kohlmann said. "I think the Canadian guys were starting to think, and a little bit negative, but at the beginning of the second set we got a break which could happen but shouldn't happen, and from that point on, I thought that the Canadians were like playing on a different level."
"They raised their level unbelievable. Served huge. We couldn't get any opportunities. I think we had one breakpoint at 2-4 down in the second, but they served an ace. There was not a real chance. In the end, we have to say the Canadians then played better than us and deserved to win," he added.
