Davis Cup: Former pro Karl-Uwe Stieb and his best anecdotes – TENNIS

Karl-Uwe Stieb (55) new function! The man from Stuttgart has gained the Davis Cup thrice and will now return to the competitors in a brand new function.

The ex-skilled will touch upon the conflict between Germany and Switzerland in Trier on sportbild.de from Friday. The skilled subsequent to him: Misha Zverev (35), brother and supervisor of Olympic champion Alexander Zverev (25).

BILD: Mr. Stieb, are you trying ahead to your new function?

Steve: “Yes very a lot!” Many years in the past I labored as a ZDF analyst. I’m trying ahead to being near tennis once more.”

BILD: Advice for the sport?

Steve: “The duel is totally open. Zverev is the best participant. But you will need to see how he is fared after a seven-month damage layoff and an early exit from the Australian Open. But, after all, he’s the favourite in each particular person video games.”

BILD: He could face Stan Wawrinka.

Steve: “It will likely be an fascinating match! Stan cannot be judged on a world rating that is not within the prime 100. It can all the time be very harmful with its actions. Especially within the corridor the place every thing is a bit of quicker. In addition, the “best of 5” is not performed, which may be a bonus for the outsider.

BILD: Who is quantity 2 in Germany for you?

Steve: “Team boss Michael Kohlmann must see who is best in coaching, Oskar Otte or Daniel Altmaier. I’d see Jan-Lennard Struff because the second singles participant due to his expertise, however sadly he’s injured. I feel we are going to win regardless of who performs and not simply within the final recreation. It will likely be fascinating, however we’ve got the house benefit.”

BILD: How do you see the way forward for the Davis Cup?

Steve: “First of all, altering the regime was an enormous mistake. Reform sure, however no. What makes the Davis Cup particular is the house rule. It creates an environment for the gamers and followers and it makes it aggressive. Playing in a foreign country of two nations with out your personal followers is lethal. On the opposite hand, the previous format of every 12 months is an excessive amount of for the calendar. That’s why I feel: the previous format, however as soon as each two years in odd years in order to not conflict with the Olympics.”

BILD: You have simply advocated reforming the previous format. What precisely do you imply?

Steve: “What wasn’t good concerning the previous format was the November/December finals and the primary spherical straight after the Australian Open in January. Anyone who misplaced there as a finalist needed to go straight to the relegation spherical. We ought to take into consideration saying goodbye to the finalists within the first spherical subsequent 12 months.”

BILD: What did you want about the home legislation with its nice ambiance?

Steve: “For a group to organize for an opponent like in Trier and play towards a rustic to have an actual Davis Cup last on the finish of the season. Of course, the workload of those groups is excessive, however it solely impacts these two nations.”

BILD: What would you alter?

Steve: “Also, you’ll be able to play best-of-5 from the semi-finals. It outlined the Davis Cup in the identical manner that it defines the Grand Slams. These epic matches will likely be remembered a long time later in each competitions. All this has been eliminated within the new format.”

BILD: What reminiscences come to thoughts while you consider your time there?

Steve: “Playing for the nation and the group was the most important factor for all of us. I feel it was additionally nice for Boris Becker, who was a lot increased than us when it comes to revenue. A group expertise is one thing particular while you journey alone all 12 months spherical. That’s what makes the Davis Cup particular.”

BILD: Apart out of your three achievements, had been there any particular episodes that you’ll always remember?

Steve: “We ought to have gone to Brazil and we misplaced within the shade in 40 levels. When the rating was 2:2, I used to be presupposed to play the deciding singles recreation, however sadly Markus Tzoeke misplaced on match level and I did not need to play anymore. “Even although we misplaced at the moment, I used to be a bit relieved that I did not need to play the deciding recreation as a result of my type wasn’t that good both.”

BILD: What methods do underdogs like Brazil use towards the favorites?

Steve: “We can stick with Brazil. Our stringer arrived solely three days earlier than the sport, earlier than which the rackets had been already strung by the Brazilians. But the rackets all the time returned ten kilograms too little. You can depart the train alone. Our captain Niki Pilic needed to endure a number of criticism from us.”

BILD: Niki Pilic was truly a fox…

Steve: “Yes, he undoubtedly was. He all the time introduced the quickest carpet from his native Yugoslavia to our dwelling Davis Cup video games. It was the quickest web page you can play. Boris was undefeated on this regard, and there have been additionally {couples} with him and Eric. Our opponents weren’t prepared for this. The World Association later modified the foundations and required a venue that had hosted not less than three tournaments earlier than.”

BILD: How did you get entangled with carpet?

Steve: “Not good. I needed to play my first recreation in Essen towards Brazil. They had been identical to, “What is that this? There is one thing like this in the lounge at dwelling.’ They could not do something with him.”

BILD: How was the Davis Cup victory celebrated at the moment?

Steve: “I sat on the disco and did not sleep for a second earlier than I left. The day after our first victory in Gothenburg, we had been acquired by our federal president. Patrick Keunen and I fell asleep within the automobile earlier than the airport choose-up, and the trophy was with us. Unfortunately, the driving force acquired misplaced on the best way from the airport to Villa Hammerschmidt and we had been delayed by an hour. We had been fully embarrassed, however all of the visitors and Richard von Weizsäcker had been type sufficient to attend for us.”