From College in the US, to the Davis-Cup Finals in Madrid

This past weekend, the German Davis-Cup team played in Düsseldorf against Belarus. The winner would qualify for a spot at the Davis-Cup Finals by Rakuten in Madrid from November 23rd to the 29th. With two points coming from the former college players Andreas Mies and Dominik Köpfer, Germany won comfortably with 4:1 and will move on to Madrid.

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For the Tulane University alumnus Köpfer, this match was his debut, playing his first singles match for Germany as he did not get the chance to play the last time he was nominated for the Davis-Cup team. Mies on the other hand, already played Davis-Cup before, debuting at the Finals in Madrid last year and staying undefeated with his partner Kevin Krawietz in their three appearances.

Our alumnus Andreas Mies is a former Auburn Tiger and started his collegiate career in spring 2010. Andreas is originally from Cologne, still lives here, and also plays for Rot-Weiß Köln in the first league in Germany. After graduation, he started his pro career, rising up the rankings with his college experience. Unfortunately, his singles career was cut short, due to knee issues and surgery that lead him to the decision to focus on doubles only. This choice was undoubtedly difficult but ended up bringing him tremendous success so far, as this past summer, the former college player won the French Open with his partner Kevin Krawietz. In addition to becoming the first-ever all-german duo to win a Grand Slam in doubles, the pair won two more ATP 250 titles at New York and Antwerp, finishing the year among the best eight Doubles teams in the world to reach the O2 Finals in London.

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Andreas and Dominik are only some of the many german college players, who went on to be among Germany’s best players. Over the last 10 years, six former college athletes played for the national team and enjoyed their success on the professional tour. Currently, three of the top five doubles players in Germany played college tennis, with the French Open Champion Andreas Mies leading the group alongside his partner Kevin Krawietz. Additionally, three out of Germany‘s eight top 150 players in the world studied in the US to pursue their dreams, both academically and athletically.

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If you want to find out more about our day at the Davis-Cup, then check out the highlights in the uniexperts Instagram profile.