2010 Davis Cup Finals, France hoping to pick up tenth title
As the Davis Cup final gets underway on Friday in Belgrade, the French side is looking quite confident to capture the coveted Davis Cup crown on the tenth occasion.
Gilles Simon, Gael Monfils, Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra, are players in the French team, who have travelled all the way to Serbia to challenge a Serbian quartet led by World number three Novak Djokovic. Novak is joined by Janko Tipsarevic, Viktor Troicki
and last week’s Barclays ATP World Tour Final doubles winner Nenad Zimonjic.
The much awaited tie, to be played in front of a huge Serbian crowd on the indoor hard court at the Belgrade Arena, will be opened by Tipsarevic versus the top ranked Frenchman Gael Monfils on Friday. Novak will take on world number forty-two Gael Simon
later in the day.
Zimonjic and Troicki will represent the host country versus the 2007 Wimbledon winners Llodra and Clement in Saturday’s doubles rubber, with the reverse singles to be contested on Sunday to conclude the tie.
“We are all very excited and cannot wait for the first point to start. Hopefully the home support will be an advantage for us over our opponents. We are all in good shape, physically and mentally fresh to perform our best tennis. Simon is always a tricky
opponent to play against. You cannot underestimate any foe in the final; you have to play at your very best to win”, reflected the 23-year-old Novak at Thursday’s draw ceremony.
The responsibility to get France off to a good start lies on Gael Monfils, who also said that he is all set to play his first match on Friday and will play his natural game.
The 25 year old Simon has fought well through an injury plagued season to secure a spot in the four man team and declared it a dream come true to play in the final of the Davis Cup.
Both the sides have already impressed everyone on their way into the final of the International Tennis Federation men’s team event. In making its way into its first final since 2002, France has been nearly flawless in live rubbers and aims to register its
name as the first country to lift the Davis Cup title without missing a live rubber since the inception of the World Group back in 1981.
Serbia, on the other hand, triumphed in a World Group tie on the very first occasion with a 3-2 win over the United States of America and is hoping to become the sixth team to pick up the crown on its debut in the final.
“The reason why we have such a successful team is the chemistry. If we get along, the better we will be. I cannot wait to be around the players during Davis Cup weeks. There is no room for hate or negative thinking or envy if another guy is playing or you
are not. Because of the great chemistry and respect we feel for one another, there has never been an occurrence where we are unprofessional in our preparation”, explained Tipsarevic.
Zimonjic, who is the eldest member of the Serbian side while commenting on his team combination, said that they are all different personalities. Their friendship definitely helps them and they support each other on the court as well. All four of them are
capable of talking openly and making right decisions for their side.
Troicki, while agreeing with his compatriot Zimonjic further added that their biggest strength is that when one is not playing up to the mark, the other steps in just at the right time to produce the required results.
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