MALAGA, Spain (AP) — The last man to face — and beat — Rafael Nadal in professional tennis, 80th-ranked Botic van de Zandschulp, gave the Netherlands a 1-0 lead over Germany in the Davis Cup semifinals Friday by hanging on to defeat Daniel Altmaier 6-4, 6-7 (12), 6-3 on his 10th match point.
“At some point, I didn’t know what to do any more on the match points,” van de Zandschulp said. “I had the toughest match of my life on Tuesday (against Nadal), so everything that comes next is maybe a little bit easier.”
He was up a set and a point from leading 5-2 in the second when Altmaier began playing more aggressively and interacting more with the German fans, yelling and throwing uppercuts or raising his arms after key points. In the tiebreaker, Altmaier managed to save five match points before converting his own fourth set point to extend the contest.
But van de Zandschulp — who upset four-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz at the U.S. Open — quickly moved out front in the final set, even if he needed five more match points in the last game before serving it out.
The Dutch never have been to the team competition’s final and would get there if Tallon Griekspoor managed to get past Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany in the second singles match.
The other semifinal is Saturday, with No. 1-ranked Jannik Sinner and defending champion Italy taking on Australia.
On Tuesday in the quarterfinals, van de Zandschulp outplayed Nadal for a 6-4, 6-4 result that marked the end of the 22-time Grand Slam champion’s career because the Netherlands went on to eliminate Spain 2-1.
The 38-year-old Nadal announced last month that the Davis Cup would be his final event before retiring.
Presumably because people purchased tickets ahead of time with plans to watch Nadal compete in the semifinals, there were hundreds of unoccupied blue or gray seats surrounding the indoor hard court at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martina Carpena in southern Spain on Friday.
Now truly a neutral site, the place was not nearly as loud and rowdy as on Tuesday, although there were shouts of “Vamos, Rafa!” that drew laughter while van de Zandschulp played the 88th-ranked Altmaier.
The Netherlands hadn’t been as far as the semifinals since 2001. The Germans — whose best current player, two-time major finalist Alexander Zverev, opted not to participate — have won three Davis Cups but not since 1993, when 1991 Wimbledon champion Michael Stich led them to the title.
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