Even without the injured Olympic champion Alexander Zverev, the German tennis men are only missing one victory for the surprising semi-finals in the Davis Cup.
Jan-Lennard Struff won a tennis thriller against the favored Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6: 3, 4: 6, 7: 6 (7: 2) at the start of the quarterfinals in Málaga and put Oscar Otte in an optimal starting position.
With a win against world number six Felix Auger-Aliassime, Otte could make everything clear in the second single on Thursday evening.
"It's just an incredible feeling, I'm just happy right now," said a visibly exhausted Struff after cheering exuberantly with the German fan block.
"It means everything to me to play for Germany.
It's such a great honor.”
Struff started furiously as the current number 152 in the world and twice took the serve from Shapovalov in the first round.
As a result, the left-hander's aggressive baseline shots caused more and more problems for the German.
In a nerve-wracking decision, the Warsteiner initially missed two match points, but finally secured Germany the first point after more than two hours.
Opponents in the semifinals would be the Italians, who had previously beaten the USA 2-1.
The last German triumph in the Davis Cup was in 1993.