Marcin Matkowski and Luksaz Kubot fought back from two sets down to beat Daniel Brands and Daniel Masur, 6-7(5), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, to keep Poland in their world group play off tie with Germany.
At the start of the first set the Polish doubles specialists grabbed the early break to lead 3-2 with some aggressive tennis. But that was quickly snuffed out and the Germans broke back and took the first set in a tiebreak. The Poles grabbed the early mini break, but a double fault from Kubot allowed the German pair to get back on track to take the first set 7-5 in the tiebreak.
The second set wasn’t much better from the Polish pair, as the Daniel Brands lob caused the poles all sorts of problems and resulted in the German pair going up an early break. They would not surrender that lead and took the second set 6-4 as the Berlin crowd roared in delight.
To the relief of the away fans, the Poles started to click in the third set and the score line proved evident of that as Lukasz Kubot’s big serve made sure that Poland would win the third set 6-3. The fourth set saw Poland break in the first game to go up an early break. It wasn’t easy for the poles from that point on in the set as they had to save break points and an aggressive onslaught from the Germans, but the poles survived and took the fourth set 6-4 to force a decider.
The fifth set provided a similar start, with the experienced poles breaking early and taking advantage of a fatigued looking German team. Even German coach Michael Kohlmann looked unsettled, but the end was near and Poland broke for 5-2, as Lukasz Kubot served the match out. The comeback was complete. After just under 3 hours and 40 minutes, Kubot/Matkowski outlasted Brands/Masur. The win means Poland’s hopes of maintaining their world group status are still alive.
All eyes on Sunday will be on Florian Mayer’s match against Kamil Majchrzak. If Mayer wins, Germany will stay in the world group. If the pole wins, a fifth rubber between Jan-Lennard Struff and Hubert Hurkacz awaits.
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