WHEN Britain met France in the Davis Cup quarter-finals two years ago, it required a near-heroic effort from Andy Murray to seal victory. When the two countries meet at the same stage in Rouen this week, it will need something more akin to a miracle for Britain to win.
The absence of the world No 1, who is resting the elbow injury that kept him out of the Miami Masters last week, is a massive blow to Britain’s hopes of making the last four, two years after he led to them to a famous triumph in the final in Belgium.
In his absence, Kyle Edmund and Dan Evans will be on singles duty while Jamie Murray and Dom Inglot will try to win a doubles
rubber that could well be crucial.
France have problems of their own as they will be without the injured Gael Monfils and Richard Gasquet as well as Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who has just become a father for the first time.
But their strength in depth means they can field world No 15 Lucas Pouille, No 25 Gilles Simon, Nicolas Mahut (ranked 55), Julien Benneteau and Jeremy Chardy (ranked 77).
Edmund and Evans, at No 43 and No 45 respectively, have enjoyed an excellent last 12 months and Edmund is at home on clay courts, but Evans would be the first to admit it is not a surface he enjoys.
Apart from the absence of Andy Murray, the big difference this time is the fact that France are at home, in Rouen, and were able to choose to play on clay courts, compared to the grass courts of Queen’s Club two years ago.
If there is a glimmer of hope, however, it could come in the fact that France are uneasy favourites and rarely at their best when their nation expects them to win.
Their greatest national sporting triumph, the 1998 World Cup victory, came when no-one thought they would win.
This weekend, though, as good as Pouille, Simon and Mahut are, they will have to deal with the pressure, a tag that traditionally,
at least, does not sit easy with French players, something the country’s leading coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, admits.
“I agree that France are favourites,” Mouratoglou said. “It is never a comfortable position to be favourite and nobody likes it.
“I totally agree [French players] are not great with that kind of pressure and especially in a period in which they haven’t won a lot of matches.”
Mouratoglou, famous for his role as the coach of Serena Williams since 2012, worked closely with Chardy at his acad-emy and believes France captain Yannick Noah may have to take some risks with his selections.
“The strategy of the captain might be to select players who are in a more winning streak situation, but lower-ranked, like Chardy,”
he said. “That would put the pressure on the British players and the French guys would be able to rely on the confidence they have gained in the last weeks thanks to their good results.”
When Noah chose clay as the surface, he was no doubt expecting at least one of Tsonga, Monfils and Gasquet to be available, and Mouratoglou said the France team that will line up on Friday would probably prefer a quicker surface.
“Of course, the British team are not the same without Andy but on the other hand, the French team are also much weaker without Tsonga, Monfils and Gasquet,” he added. “The four potential singles players are all in the same situation – they did not win a lot of matches in the last weeks, so their confidence level is quite low and we know how Davis Cup is tough on the nerves. When you lack confidence and get nervous, there is danger.
“The surface is supposed to be an advantage for France, but the players supposed to play now are not known to be clay-court
players, so there is no more surface advantage for France.”
What will be an advantage for France will be playing in front of a partisan crowd inside the intimate 5000-seater Palais des Sports de Rouen.
Leon Smith’s British team have won their past two clay-court Davis Cup ties and Edmund, in particular, will believe he can beat whoever he is pitched against in singles on what is arguably his favourite surface. If he performs as he has done in the competition over the past couple of years, Britain might have a chance and it could even come down to the doubles.
Mouratoglou, though, thinks that is one area where France are stronger, at least on paper.
“In doubles I believe the French team is better as Mahut and Benneteau, if they are chosen to play together, are a very strong team,” he said. “They’ve played together for years.
“Generally speaking I give a slight advantage to France but I believe that it will be very open and emotional.”
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