Alexander Zverev’s season looks to be over after he was not included in Germany’s squad for the Davis Cup quarter-final against Canada.
Zverev has been out of action since tearing ankle ligaments during his French Open semi-final against Rafael Nadal on June 3.
He was hoping to play for Germany in the Davis Cup group stage in September, but suffered a setback with a bone edema on his foot.
He will not play at next week’s Paris Masters and will also not feature at the Davis Cup Finals, which run from November 22-27 in Malaga.
“At the moment it doesn’t look like Alexander Zverev will be ready for action again until the Davis Cup,” said a statement from the German Tennis Federation.
Zverev was in with a chance of reaching world No. 1 at the French Open but has now slipped down to No. 6 in the rankings.
He will fall further by the end of the season as he will drop 1,300 points as defending champion at the ATP Finals and also 360 points from making the 2021 Paris Masters semi-finals.
In Zverev’s absence, Germany will stick with the same squad against Canada that qualified for the finals in September.
Oscar Otte, Jan-Lennard Struff and Yannick Hanfmann will compete in the singles while Tim Putz and Kevin Krawietz are set to team up in doubles.
“These players have been convincing and deserve to continue the journey together,” said Germany captain Michael Kohlmann.
“The team has developed an incredible sense of togetherness over the past few years, which, coupled with our playing quality, makes us an uncomfortable opponent for any nation.”
Germany will be underdogs against Canada, who will be led in singles by world No.9 Felix Auger-Aliassime and world No. 19 Denis Shapovalov.
“Of course we are not the favourites but we are looking forward to this challenge,” added Kohlmann.
“We have proved many times that we can compete with the best and like last year we want to reach at least the semi-finals.”
The winner of the clash faces either Italy or the United States.
The other quarter-finals see Australia face Netherlands and Spain take on Croatia.
