THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon. Thank you, Team Germany.
Captain, how is the team? How have the preparations been so far?
CAPTAIN MICHAEL KOHLMANN: Yeah, team is very good. I think preparations are well. The site is perfect. Conditions are very nice. I think ball, surface, are very even for every kind of player.
I think everybody can expect great tennis. Hopefully we will have tough and high-quality matches.
THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions.
Q. Sascha, we've seen many players in the past use a great Davis Cup run towards the end of the season as a good jump-start towards the next season. Do you feel like a great event here might serve you as a good start of 2026 or is it more of a separate event to wrap up the year?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Well, of course I hope to circle down the path of Jannik and those guys the last couple of years, for sure.
I think everybody had a long year. Everybody had a long season. I'm very happy to be with this team. We have a great team. I think we're all looking forward to competing here.
Yeah, to be honest, I think we have great chances in the upcoming matches. Hopefully we can prove that.
Q. Do you feel favorite being with the top three ATP and an amazing doubles pair?
CAPTAIN MICHAEL KOHLMANN: I mean, obviously now when Carlos pulled out, we have the best ranked singles players in our team.
But if you look at all the other teams, they are great, great players, if you combine the rankings of the second singles players.
I think it's all tough matches. Especially now, our first opponent, that's our main goal, to get past Argentina. Argentina is a tough team, great singles players. Francisco Cerundolo proved to be a top player. Tomas Etcheverry had great years already. They have a doubles player who won two Grand Slams.
Tough to talk about favorites, but I think we are feeling good in our position and we're looking forward for the whole week hopefully.
Q. How does it feel playing against Javier Frana, somebody who you know from very young? What do you have to say about him as a player and now as a Davis Cup captain?
CAPTAIN MICHAEL KOHLMANN: Yeah, I said it already before: I think it's special. Javier Frana, for everybody else, was our star player in my first Bundesliga club tennis team in my hometown. He was my idol growing up. He taught me how to play doubles actually. He was very special person for me in those years.
Now it's something special to share the court in a different way. But I think that's it. Once we step on the court, he will do everything to win for Argentina. I will do everything to win for Germany.
I think at that point when we start the match, we will keep that aside. Afterwards we might have a drink at the bar (smiling).
Q. It's been a while obviously since Germany held the Davis Cup. Yes, there's the cliché of taking one team at a time. What would it mean to win the Davis Cup?
JAN-LENNARD STRUFF: Obviously we all enjoy playing for Germany. We know the history. It would for sure mean a lot. Like you said, we take it one by one because we play Argentina. They're a very tough team.
Doesn't make any sense to look ahead because they are a very strong team. We have a good team. We need to compete there and fight us through.
Q. Sascha, what makes you come here? You call it an exhibition in Torino. Still happy to be here? You want to play for your country? Are you happy to be here?
ALEXANDER ZVEREV: Judging by how you asked the question, I guess you want to have an answer that you can write about.
I'm very happy to be with this team. I said it before. The only reason I'm here is because of this team. I still say, and I will keep saying, that I prefer the old format of the Davis Cup. I always said it and I will continue saying it. I think it was history. I think it was a big part of playing the home and away matches.
I also love this team. I understand everybody's not getting younger. We all want to have success together. We only have a couple more years left to do that within this formation. This is why I'm here.
I truly believe that we have a great team. I truly believe we have a team that we can win this thing with. I'm looking forward to competing together with these guys.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports