Weakened German team take lead in Davis Cup clash with Slovakia

Maximilian Marterer gave a weakened Germany team the advantage in their Davis Cup group opener with Slovakia in China on Tuesday.

The 29-year-old beat Lukas Klein 6-4, 7-5 at the Hengqin International Tennis Centre in Zhuhai.

"I think it's a big relief for us," Marterer said.

In extremely humid conditions, the left-hander kept his concentration and exploited the weaker serve of world number 128 Klein.

Marterer, ranked 104th in the world, managed a break in the very first game of the match and did not look back.

In addition to Slovakia, Germany face Chile and the US for one of the top two places in Group C.

The two best teams in the group will advance to the final round in Malaga, Spain, in November.

Germany are without top player Alexander Zverev in the group phase as well as the injured Jan-Lennard Struff and Dominik Koepfer.

Yannick Hanfmann now takes on Jozef Kovalik knowing a win is enough to defeat Slovakia. Should Hanfmann lose, the doubles match involving Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz will decide the contest.

Pütz and Krawietz only arrived in China the evening before after reaching the doubles final at the US Open.

The fact the International Tennis Federation (ITF) placed European teams in a group in China has been heavily criticized.

"I think the teams that are here now all agree that it's nonsense to play here," said Germany team manager Michael Kohlmann.