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Melbourne (AP) - The German tennis men missed the final at the ATP Cup in Melbourne.
In the semi-finals, Alexander Zverev's team lost 2-1 to Russia on Saturday.
First Jan-Lennard Struff lost his individual against Andrej Rublev in three sets with 6: 3, 1: 6, 2: 6.
Then Zverev was also defeated in the duel between the two top players against Daniil Medvedev 6: 3, 3: 6, 5: 7.
The 23-year-old from Hamburg had to be treated for back problems in the second sentence, but came back on the field and lost in three sentences in the end.
The double of Kevin Krawietz and Struff that followed was meaningless.
They defeated Yevgeny Donskoy and Aslan Karazew 6: 3, 7: 6.
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Russia will now face Italy in the final, who beat last year's finalist Spain in the other semifinals.
Germany had previously eliminated defending champion Serbia around world number one Novak Djokovic in its preliminary round group.
Last year, the German men were eliminated in the preliminary round at the premiere of the ATP Cup.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210206-99-324948 / 2
Results at the ATP Cup