AWhen everyone jumped up, one was already standing there. One who stands for German tennis like no other anyway. As a “friend of the team”, according to the official language of the association, Boris Becker was part of the German delegation at the Davis Cup match in Trier at the weekend. A silent but always visible eye-catcher in the box with players and team members lining the court. He often stood while everyone was sitting around him. This is also the case at this moment, when the qualifying game against Switzerland reached its emotional peak.
The decision was only made in the third and last set of the fifth and final match. Stan Wawrinka, winner of three Grand Slam tournaments in a period when normally Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic won and win all Grand Slam tournaments, played against Daniel Altmaier, an undeniably talented but not yet a pro all-too-successful debutants in the German team. Wawrinka dominated, Altmaier fought, the audience raged. But the rousing effort was not rewarded. Altmaier lost 3:6, 7:5, 4:6, the German team 2:3. Tears flowed at his press conference. “I can’t remember the last time I was so upset by a match,” he sobbed.