The Netherlands reached the Davis Cup final for the first time as Tallon Greekpoor fought back to win his singles match and complete a 2-0 victory against Germany.
Botic van de Zandschulp, who defeated Rafael Nadal on Tuesday in the final match of the Spaniard’s career, put the Dutch 1-0 ahead on Friday when he defeated Daniel Altmaier in the first singles match.
The world number 80 needed 10 match points to complete a thrilling 6-4 6-7 (12-14) 6-3 win.
Greekpoor prevented the best-of-three tie from going to a deciding doubles match when he came back from a set down to beat Jan-Lennard Struff 6-7 (4-7) 7-5 6-4.
“We believed in ourselves so much, we always felt this was possible, so now it feels incredible to do it,” said Greekpoor.
The Netherlands will face defending champion Italy – led by world number one Jannik Sinner – or Australia in the final on Sunday.
“It’s more unique that we do it because we don’t have that top-five player, we don’t have that top-10 player, we don’t have that top-15 player — but it’s a team effort,” Holland said. said Captain Paul Haarhuis.
“We have to believe in ourselves, no matter who’s against us, that we can do it. It’s our time this year. We’re here and we’re going to make it count.”
Three-time winners Germany wanted to reach the final for the first time since the last title in 1993.
They were without world number two Alexander Zverev, who said last month he would miss the Davis Cup final to “recover and get back to 100%” for the 2025 season.
Van de Zandschulp keeps his nerves after ‘toughest match of his life’
The atmosphere was feverish as Van de Zandschulp faced 22-time Grand Slam winner Nadal, with some of his first serve misses cheered by the partisan crowd.
No longer the villain, there was still tension for the Dutchman as Altmaier fought back from a break in the second set, saving five match points in a 26-point tiebreak to force a deciding set.
But Van de Zandschulp struck the decisive blow, breaking at 4-3 in the third and holding his nerve to clear a series of double faults and serve out victory at the tenth time of asking.
“I had the toughest match of my life on Tuesday, so everything that comes after that might be a little easier,” said Van de Zandschulp.
In a closely fought second singles match, neither player faced a break point in the opening set and it was Struff who turned up the intensity to win the resulting tie-break.
Greekpoor fought back, however, and his serve proved crucial as he sealed victory with his 25th ace.
It meant that Van de Zandschulp and Wesley Koolhof, who will retire after the Davis Cup, did not play for the decisive doubles match.
“It has been an incredible journey in the last 15 to 20 years as a tennis player. I have done it with a lot of passion,” Koolhof said as his career was celebrated with a retirement ceremony after the Netherlands’ victory.
“We’re not done yet, I’m not done yet. We still have a few days to go and hopefully we can make something special happen here.”
