Spain Holds Off Germany To Reach First Davis Cup Final In Six Years

Pedro Martinez, Marcel Granollers
Pedro Martinez and Marcel Granollers (photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images for ITF)

BOLOGNA/WASHINGTON, November 22, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

Spain, without World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, reached the Davis Cup semifinals this week for the first time since they won their sixth title in 2019. However, their last two ties – including their quarterfinal victory Thursday over Czechia, when they recovered from being 0-1 down – have been comeback victories. 

So, it should come as no surprise that their Davis Cup Final 8 semifinal tie against Germany required the Spanish to come from behind to win and advance to Sunday’s final against two-time defending champion Italy. It will be the 14th Davis Cup meeting for Spain and Italy but their first in 19 years.

After gaining an opening rubber victory at No. 2 singles from Pablo Carreño Busta over Jan-Lennard Struff, then losing a point in the No. 1 singles rubber after Jaume Munar was defeated by World No. 3 Alexander Zverev in two tie-break sets, the Spanish doubles team of World No. 6 Marcel Granollers and Pedro Martinez rallied their team. After splitting the first two sets, they played a rock-solid third set and broke early to pull out a three-set decider. Their victory lifted Spain to its first Davis Cup final in six years after defeating Germany 2-1.

During an on-court interview after Granollers and Martinez had secured the semifinal victory for Spain, Spanish team captain David Ferrer said he was proud of his team’s effort against Germany.

“I feel really happy. I’m very proud of my players. They fought hard to get here,” he said. “It wasn’t easy. I’m really happy. We’re excited, now it’s time to rest and get ready for the final [against Italy]. …

“I am sure we are going to be ready to compete.”

Carreño Busta wins with improbable comeback in tiebreaker 

In the opening rubber with Spain’s 89th-ranked Pablo Carreño Busta a set ahead, he held a 5-4 lead before No. 84 Jan-Leonard Struff saved three match points on his serve during the 12-point 10th game, including one with his eighth ace. Both competitors remained steady to the task and it was on to a second-set tiebreaker.

In the tie-break, Struff jumped ahead 4-0, needing to win it in order to send the rubber to a decider. He increased his lead to 6-1 before Carreño Busta saved a trio of set points to narrow the gap.  Then, the Spaniard saved a fourth set point after Struff missed his target going for a forehand winner, and soon after, Carreño Busta saved a fifth set point to level the tie-break at 6-all. 

Next, Carreño Busta gained his fourth match point, 18 minutes after his previous one, and put away the straight-set victory, 6-4, 7-6 (6), after Struff netted a forehand return. It was a remarkable and improbable comeback for the Spaniard, who finished with 14 winners to just 10 unforced errors. He outpointed Struff 73-71. The victory lifted Spain to within a point of reaching the final.

“Of course, when you win the match, it’s easier to be happy and to be more comfortable with your game,” Carreño Busta said. “But it’s true that today in the important moments my serve helped me a lot, with Love-30 or 30-all. I make some free points with my serve. Probably the mistakes that I make the other day, today I make it better. …

“But well, is a really important victory for me and I think also for the Team Spain.”

Carreño Busta, 34, was asked what was going through his mind as he trailed 6-1 in the tie-break. “It’s tough to play those kinds of moments,” he said. “I was playing my best tennis at the end of the second set. I had three match points with 5-4 but he played really good. So, in the tie-break 6-1 down, of course you’re aren’t thinking about winning but you just try to be focused on every point and don’t think about the score. I know it is easy to say and tough to do it. Sometimes, you can do it. That was the key.”

For Carreño Busta, after coming back from injuries, being on the Spanish Davis cup is like a dream come true. 

“A few months ago, I was suffering a lot with my injury,” he said. “I didn’t know if I could play again tennis. To be here is a dream and I’m enjoying every moment.”

Zverev rallies Germany to force a decider

Next, with their backs against the wall, Germany looked to World No. 3  Alexander Zverev to level the tie score at 1-all against No. 36 Jaume Munar, who won his first-ever Davis Cup singles rubber on Thursday against Czechia’s Jiri Lehecka.

Zverev’s experience proved a difference maker and he prevailed in two tie-break sets against Munar, winning 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5), in an hour and 59 minutes. By the end, it was his serving that put him over the top against Munar.

After exchanging early service breaks, Zverev wrapped up the 58-minute first set that went to a tiebreaker, 7-2, garnering it with a backhand winner. The Germans needed to win this match to force a decider in the third rubber.

Next, Munar gained a break and a 2-1 lead early in the second set after three forehand misses and a double fault by Zverev. However, a short while later, the German No. 1 gained a straightforward hold with his sixth ace, coming on the back of an impressive break, and it was 4-3 Zverev. Soon, Zverev pushed ahead 6-5 with a couple of tough holds of serve. It put him a game away from leveling the tie with Spain and sending it to a doubles decider. Munar countered with a comprehensive hold, which included a nifty drop-shot winner, and it was on to another tiebreaker.

With so much on the line, every point seemed to be magnified. Zverev jumped ahead 4-1, winning four straight points by taking advantage of several hitting errors by Munar. The Spaniard got two of the points back on his serve after hitting a solid ace out wide on one of them. However, still a break down, Zverev controlled the tie-break 4-3. He won a lengthy rally with solid, aggressive hitting to push forward 5-3, then Zverev pressured Munar into hitting a forehand long to set up match point for the German.

Munar saved a match point after pinning Zverev deep in the corner with a solid return. However, facing another match point on his serve, Munar saved it with a seventh-shot running volley forehand winner to pull to within 6-5. Zverev had one more chance to win it – and he did. He delivered for Germany once again by hitting an overhead forehand smash winner to win the tie-break 7-5 after an hour and 59 minutes of battle.

“Happy to get the win. I’m not feeling my best,” Zverev said during his on-court interview. “I was just lacking energy a little bit yesterday and over the night. I’m happy to get the point for our team. Now, we’re going to the doubles, just like last time.”

Zverev added: “I didn’t serve well in the beginning, then the longer the match went on the better I started serving – especially in the important moments. I’m very happy with my performance. It doesn’t matter who’s winning as long as we get the team win.”

Zverev finished with 32 winners overall – including 13 aces – and won 76 percent (50 of 76) of his first-serve points. He converted two of four break points and outpointed Munar 80-74.

Meanwhile, Munar described his loss to Zverev as a tough match mentally. “I didn’t feel like the level of the match was so high,” he said. “We were serving good. I couldn’t play my best tennis, especially at the tie-breaks from the baseline. I couldn’t make it.

“If I have to be honest, the biggest mistake or the biggest chance I had was when I was a break up in the second, I had the feeling that I was leading the match. Then, suddenly, two easy mistakes. As you saw, couple of too many mistakes on the second tie-break. That’s pretty much the match today.”

Granollers and Martinez pull out doubles decider for Spain

Suddenly, Germany had gained some momentum in the tie after Alexander Zverev‘s win and it would come down to a deciding doubles rubber between two teams that each had won their quarterfinal matches earlier in the week – Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz for the Germans against Marcel Granollers and Pedro Martinez for the Spaniards.

Spain came out quickly and gained a double-break 4-0 lead against Germany after just 17 minutes of play before the Germans finally held their serve in the fifth game. By the end of the set, which the Spanish won 6-2, Granollers and Martinez had outpointed Krawietz and Puetz 28-19.

However, the Germans got on track in the second set and sprinted to a 4-1 advantage after breaking the Spaniards in the fourth game. Soon, after a solid hold, it was 5-2 Germany as Krawietz and Puetz began to gel as a team. They won the 32-minute second set 6-3 – ahead on points 30-17 in the set – and it was on to a decisive third set to decide the tie.

Spain opened with a 2-1 lead, on serve, in which the wizardry of Granollers patrolling the net and poaching everything in sight from both wings was a sight to behold. Then, Martinez went to work and hit a couple of huge forehands that contributed towards the Spanish breaking at love to go ahead 3-1. They consolidated the break to lead 4-1, just needing to hold twice more to win the tie and advance to their first Davis Cup final in six years. Spain had regrouped well in the final set with everything on the line.

Soon, ahead 5-3, Spain closed out their semifinal victory on Granollers’ serve. After Granollers saved a break point with an ace down the middle, he hit the spot in the deuce court with another ace to give Spain match point. Martinez hit a seventh-shot winner that landed in between Krawietz and Puetz to end the one-hour, 45-minute decider with the Spanish winning it, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Granollers and Martinez combined to hit 28 winners – including five aces – and converted three of six break points. They outpointed Krawietz and Puetz 74-69.

“Unbelievable, we are so happy,” Granollers said during an on-court interview. “We had two super-difficult ties and we are super happy to be in the final.”

Martinez added: “I really feel all the emotions here. I’m trying to put my best tennis on the court. I really like this energy. I think my level goes up a little bit so I can compete well in this competition.”

Looking back, Granollers and Martinez held their nerve under extreme pressure when it counted most and sent Spain to its 11th Davis Cup final. Everyone contributed to Spain’s victory over Germany – and, somewhere back in Spain, Carlos Alcaraz was smiling.

Davis Cup news & noteworthy

Belgium’s Zizou Bergs had just finished being on the losing end of a 32-point, 17-15 third-set tiebreaker that knocked his team out of the Davis Cup semifinals Friday night. The Belgians were shut out 2-0 by host Italy, which advanced to its third-straight Davis Cup final after producing back-to-back wins by Matteo Berrettini and Flavio Cobolli.

Despite the loss, Bergs, who was unable to convert seven match points during the third-set tiebreaker, was upbeat during his team’s post-match news conference. Plus, Belgium’s team captain, Steve Darcis, and Bergs’s teammate, Raphael Collignon, found plenty of positives to accentuate during their post-tie news conference. 

“Yeah, we had an amazing year. This is for sure,” said Darcis of the Belgian’s semifinal run. “Today, I think we are all sad. But the feeling I have now is that I’m so proud of them. They did unbelievable all those ties. Today, we were close to being at 1-1, and then you know know [about] the doubles.

“I’m sad today, for sure. Everybody will be sad in the team. But we are very proud of what we did this year. Like Zizou, said, we have a young team and we still have time. Hopefully, we are going to come back a bit stronger in the next year.”

Collignon added: “I think it was very inspiring for me to see Zizou fighting out there, enjoying this atmosphere. Yeah, was maybe thinking why should I do this during the match, why didn’t I enjoy the match, because we are not playing Davis Cup semifinals every day.

“I think this experience will make me better I think for the future. Of course, coming back with new motivation to try to do more. I think he inspired all the team. We are all very proud of him the way he fought for everybody out there.”

Bergs said that with the experience Collignon is earning – win or lose – he’s becoming “an amazing” Davis Cup player. “And the more he’s going to play, the more he’s going to find that kind of right balance between caring so much and enjoying yourself.

“I found that. I don’t know, I was just laughing so many times a on court, smiling to Steve. Steve was just smiling back, realizing what crazy points we were doing in a crazy atmosphere. 

“Yeah, that’s really important for me to enjoy myself. If I enjoy myself, I most likely really play the tennis I want to play. 

“So, yeah, it is something that needs time and something  that maybe I only found this year. I’m 26, and Raphael is 23. He will have some time also to explore the right balance there.”

By the numbers

Saturday’s Germany-Spain tie was their 18th Davis Cup meeting overall and fifth since 2000. Their first meeting came 97 years ago in 1928, with Germany winning 3-2 in Berlin in the second round of the Europe Zone. Germany leads the series 10-8.

“Quotable …”

“Yeah, I feel the stress all the time. It’s not new. I think it’s normal. A bit more in Davis Cup because you’re playing not only for yourself, you play for a team, you play for your country. The pressure is a bit higher.”

– Raphael Collignon of Belgium, during his post-match news conference, on handling the pressure of playing against Matteo Berrettini in front of an Italian crowd.

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