Austria’s tennis Davis Cup team suffered a home defeat against Portugal in World Group I. OTV Selection went 0-2 on Friday. On Saturday, Alexander Erler/Lucas Midler were able to reduce the score to 1:2 against Nuno Borges/Francisco Cabral in front of 1,600 fans at the Schwechater Multiversum with a score of 7:6(0), 7:6(5) . , However, Sebastian Offner, who suffered a back injury, had to pass. After this, Dennis Novak lost the match against Borges 3:6, 2:6.
Thus the unassailable 1:3 deficit was sealed. Furthermore, current best player Dominic Thiem was also not available on the final day due to gastritis. Oefner also lost his game on Friday by a narrow margin due to match point not being used. Ultimately he felt pain in his back and after playing on Sunday the Styrian learned that he would not be able to play. But he will not be out and will play in the Challenger in St Tropez next week, he confirmed.
Earlier, as recently in Rijeka, Erler/Midler had at least kept Austria’s chances of a double win alive when they were 0–2 down. “It was a close game from the beginning. We stayed calm and continued to play every point with the fans behind us,” Midler said. “We were feeling really safe in the first set at 4:5, 40:0 and suddenly they had set the point,” Erler recalled. In this game, the Tyrolean ran so far down the court on a ball that it collided with Melzer, who was sitting on the bench. However, both saved set points and then played an impeccable tiebreak.
The second round also went to “Jew Decisif” without a break, which Erler/Midler won. Austria will now have to do so on 2/3 February. or February 3/4, 2024 due to relegation from World Group I and missing the qualifying round. The draw for the next international match will take place in London on Wednesday (3pm Central European Time).
