Overview
- The tie starts Friday at 7:00 MESZ and continues Saturday from 6:00 MESZ on Ariake Coliseum’s slow hardcourt, with live coverage on the paid Tennis Channel.
- Germany needs two match wins to clinch the tie and seal qualification for the Bologna Finals in late November.
- Jan-Lennard Struff anchors the lineup after a US Open third-round run that returned him to the Top 100.
- The traveling squad comprises Struff, Yannick Hanfmann, doubles specialists Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz, plus 17-year-old Justin Engel.
- Engel could debut as Germany’s second-youngest Davis Cup player, while Alexander Zverev sits out and Japan replaces injured Kei Nishikori with 19-year-old Rei Sakamoto.