After his heroic, marathon United Cup campaign last January, Alexander Zverev might welcome a little respite at this year’s event. That’s where newly crowned Nitto ATP Finals doubles champion Tim Puetz might come in.
“Generally, the whole Australian summer for me, I did play a lot of tennis,” Zverev told ATPTour.com on Friday in Perth. “Obviously with the United Cup, I played 10 matches in total. I played every single singles and mixed.
“Then at the Australian Open in total also I played a lot. I played two 7-6 in the fifth matches, played another five-setter with Daniil, played long matches with Carlos.
“It’s nice to have Tim on the team for sure because it does give us options in the mixed. It gives me the freedom if I say I am playing three hours a singles match, I don't have to come out in the mixed again, where last year we didn't have that option in the mixed doubles really. It's a great addition to our team.”
Team Germany living it up in Rotto 🇩🇪#UnitedCup @WestAustralia @RottnestIsland #WAtheDreamState pic.twitter.com/2C4ytmNRH2
— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) December 27, 2024
The United Cup may be entering just its third year, but Zverev’s physical efforts in leading Germany to victory last year will take a lot of topping, particularly on the final weekend, when he played four epic matches in little over 24 hours.
In the semis he backed up after a draining three-set singles defeat to Alex de Minaur to claim a 15-13 match tie-break mixed doubles win with Laura Siegemund in a match that finished at 2:15 a.m. In the final he saved two championship points against Hubert Hurkacz before he and Siegemund won the deciding mixed at 12:45 a.m.
For her part, Siegemund finds herself in a very different role. Last year as the doubles specialist she sat on the bench for the early matches before stepping in to replace Angie Kerber in the mixed with spectacular success. This year she is Team Germany’s No. 1 singles player and may be more likely to pull double duty on a regular basis that Zverev.
“I wasn't particularly planning to be the singles girl here, but I had some good results last year. It ended up being that way,” Siegemund said.
“I'm happy also for my singles to go out there. Yeah, lots of matches for me coming up. I'm really enjoying the mixed. I'm looking forward to that. As Puetzy said, it doesn't really matter who [plays]. I think we have a good lineup either way.”
Germany, the heavy favourite in Group C in Perth, plays Brazil on Sunday and China on Monday.
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