Great Britain and Germany will compete in the second Davis Cup quarterfinal on Tuesday in Innsbruck, Austria. The Brits are sending Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans to the court, while the Germans are countering with Jan-Lennard Struff and Dominik Koepfer.
(GBR) Cameron Norrie vs. (GER) Jan-Lennard Struff
Norrie’s incredible 2021 campaign saw him compete in the Nitto ATP Finals as an alternate and now it is culminating in what has so far been successful Davis Cup duty for Great Britain. The world No. 12 has improved to 52-24 on the season following wins last week over France’s Arthur Rinderknech and up-and-coming Czech Jiri Lehecka.
The Brits won Group C and now face Group F winner Germany during quarterfinal action on Tuesday in Innsbruck. Norrie is going up Struff, who trails the head-to-head series 1-0 after falling 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 at the 2019 Auckland event. Struff went 1-1 in round-round play, losing to top-ranked Serb Novak Djokovic to go along with a straight-set victory over Austria’s Dennis Novak. The world No. 51 is just 7-11 in his last 18 matches dating back to the Tokyo Olympics. Struff may have some chance on an indoor hard court if he serves extremely well, but Norrie is the far better all-court player right now and is armed with a ton of confidence.
Pick: Norrie in 2
(GBR) Dan Evans vs. (GER) Dominik Koepfer
Evans and Koepfer will be squaring off for the fourth time in their careers on Tuesday. All three of their previous meetings have gone the Brit’s way; in straight sets at the 2018 Nottingham Challenger, in three during 2019 Delray Beach qualifying, and via a 7-6(6), 6-7(6), 6-4 thriller again at the Nottingham Challenger in 2019.
After easing past veteran Frenchman Adrian Mannarino on Saturday, Evans succumbed to Tomas Machac over the Czech Republic even though Great Britain eventually prevailed 2-1. Koepfer is coming off wins over Austria’s Jurij Rodionov and Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic. This is more of a tossup that Norrie vs. Struff, but Evans clearly has Koepfer’s number so it’s hard to go against him in this one.
Pick: Evans in 3
WWW?
Norrie and Evans both win.