MALAGA, Spain (Reuters) – The Netherlands moved to the brink of their first Davis Cup final as Botic Van de Zandschulp held his nerve to beat Germany’s Daniel Altmaier 6-4 6-7(12) 6-3 on Friday.
Van de Zandschulp, the player who ended Spanish great Rafa Nadal’s career on Tuesday, needed 10 match points to put his side ahead in the Jose Maria Martin Carpena arena.
The 29-year-old looked on course for a comfortable win in the opening singles of the semi-final as he led by a set and a break of serve in the second set.
He then saw five match points come and go in a marathon second-set tiebreak before Altmaier took it to a decider.
Van de Zandschulp got ahead in the decider only to allow Altmaier back but then broke serve again to lead 5-3.
Gripped by nerves he served three double faults as he tried to close out the match but eventually got the job done.
The Dutch need one more point to reach the final for the first time in their 104-year history in the competition.
Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff must now beat Tallon Griekspoor to keep his side in the hunt for a first appearance in the final since they last won it in 1993.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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