“It will be a new situation for me and I’m curious how I’ll deal with it.” For Austria’s record Davis Cup player Jürgen Melzer, the qualifying round in the Davis Cup tomorrow and on Saturday (3 a.m. CET, laola1.tv) in Seoul once morest South Korea is his 39th appearance for Austria, but Melzer is the captain for the first time the bank. The successor to Stefan Koubek has to do without Dominic Thiem, who has still not returned to the tour, at his premiere. Dennis Novak and Jurij Rodionov are fixed starters in singles, in doubles Lucas Miedler and Alexander Erler, who won the Kitzbühel title in 2021, will celebrate their Davis Cup debut. The aim is to reach the lucrative group stage for the second year in a row, which will be played from September 14th to 18th.
For the South Koreans, all the pressure is on Kwon Soonwoo, world number 65, who is expected to win both singles. The 24-year-old amateur karaoke singer will have to dress warmly anyway. There is no heating in the Olympic Park Tennis Court, twelve degrees were last measured. There will be no country match atmosphere, only around 200 invited guests are allowed.
