2024 Finals: Spotlight on Germany
08/10/2024 14:47
Germany will go into this year's Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge Finals with high hopes despite it being a decade since they last made it through to the event's showpiece tie
By Kevin Palmer
GERMANY
Ranking: 8
Champions: 1987, 1992
THE HISTORY
The great Steffi Graf led Germany to their two wins in this competition with the first coming in 1987 as they beat a USA team featuring Chris Evert and Pam Shriver and the second a memorable win against a Spain team led by Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in front of a home crowd in Frankfurt five years later.
Germany's most recent appearance in a final came in 2014 when they lost 3-1 against Czechia in Prague.
RECORD BREAKERS
Anke Huber holds the record for the most singles wins for Germany in this competition, climbing 24 wins and losing just nine times in an impressive Billie Jean King Cup career.
Helga Masthoff has played the most ties for Germany (33) and she has also won the most doubles matches (15).
HOW THEY QUALIFIED
Germany travelled to Brazil and claimed a fine victory in their Qualifiers tie in April, with Laura Siegemund setting them on their way with an impressive win against Brazil's top player Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Tatjana Maria then put Germany in a dominant position as she won her singles match against Laura Pigossi, with Siegemund then sealing victory for her team with a win against Carolina Alves in a tense 6-1 2-6 6-3 win in front of a big crowd in Sao Paulo.
MEET THE CAPTAIN - Rainer Schuettler
Schuettler reached a career-high ranking of No. 5 in April 2004, amid a stellar career that included four ATP Tour titles.
Schuettler's best performance in a Grand Slam was an appearance in the 2003 Australian Open Final, losing against Andre Agassi. He also reached the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2008, losing against Rafael Nadal.
An Olympic silver medallist alongside Nicolas Kiefer in 2004, he took over as Germany's Billie Jean King Cup captain in 2019.
He is relishing his role as Billie Jean King Cup captain and admits the challenge is finding the best way to motivate each player.
"It's incredibly exciting to lead this team and a great challenge because every player is different," said Schuettler.
"It gives the team a very special atmosphere which, in our case, also has a positive effect on the way we perform.
"I think it's fantastic the way the girls stick together, the way they gee each other up and cheer each other on. I have to pay them a big compliment.
"I've been involved in tennis for an eternity. The passion just never lets go. When I'm on the road on a tennis mission then it's like a holiday for me."
WHO'S IN THE TEAM?
Captain Schuettler guided his team to an impressive win against Brazil in Sao Paulo and the heroes of that victory will be given a chance to shine in Malaga.
Tatjana Maria, Jule Niemeier and Eva Lys will lead the German challenge, with Laura Siegemund looking to continue her momentum in this competition after she played a leading role in the win against Brazil that propelled Germany to the Billie Jean King Cup Finals.
Siegemund is one of the leading doubles players on the WTA Tour, but she was Germany's star turn in the Qualifiers win against Brazil in April as she won both of her singles matches.
A French Open quarter-finalist in singles in 2020, Siegemund won the US Open title in doubles that year and added another Grand Slam title to her collection earlier this year as she won the French Open Mixed doubles alongside partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
Maria will also have a big role to play in Malaga, as she has won eight out of 14 singles matches in the Billie Jean King Cup.
Now 37, Maria was a Wimbledon semi-finalist in 2022 and she reached a career-high ranking of No. 42 earlier this year.
Jule Niemeier could also be called upon in Malaga, with her run to the 2022 Wimbledon singles quarter-finals her best performance in a Grand Slam tournament.
