Davis Cup 2010: Gilles Simon, Arnaud Clement win as France leads Argentina 5-0
French player Gilles Simon toppled Eduardo Schwank in a Davis Cup encounter on Sunday with a final score of 7-6 (5), 6-7 (6) and 6-3. Arnaud Clement on the other hand claimed a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Horacio Zeballos as France made its way into the final
of the Davis Cup 2010.
With a spot in the title battle already earned after winning the doubles matches on Saturday, France was already up with an unassailable lead of 3-0. Therefore, skipper Guy Forget decided to rest Michael Llodra and Gael Monfils for yesterday’s reverse singles
and sent Clement and Simon instead.
France will travel to Serbia for the December 3-5 final after the Serbs, led by the United States Open runner up, Novak Djokovic along with Janko Tipsarevic rallied from being down at 2-1 on Sunday to surpass the Czech Republic 3-2.
“We have been fortunate enough to only fight at home so far in the competition. The clash was already quite tough and now it is going to be even tougher as the Serbian tennis contenders Novak and Tipsarevic are extremely talented without any measure of speculations.
Moreover, another important factor is that they will have the support of their home crowd which is a great confidence booster in such crucial matches. So it will be hard for sure,” said Forget.
Gilles did not face a single break point and finished the clash on serve after breaking Eduardo’s serve on the very first occasion during the eight game of the decisive set on Sunday.
Arnaud then broke Horacio’s serve on 4 occasions in taking little more than an hour to triumph.
France, which defeated last year’s winner Spain with a 5-0 drubbing in the quarters, has triumphed in its last nine Davis Cup competitions since 2001 when it was hammered by Russia at home in 2002.
“It is just like a dream weekend for all of us at the Davis Cup tennis competition and we all are extremely glad. The Davis Cup is one of the most important tennis tournaments on the tour not only for the players but for the entire federation as well,” said
Jean Gachassin, who is the President of the French Tennis Federation.
However, Forget accepts that Novak and Tipsarevic form a strong singles pairing, in spite of the fact that France has a potent doubles pairing in Clement and Llodra.
“Djokovic at the moment is in excellent form after his final run at the United States Open tennis tournament in New York. Whenever they needed him, Novak responded well. When he fights for Serbia, he surpasses himself on every single occasion. Moreover,
there is also Tipsarevic, who prevented his side versus the Czech Republic. He also is a very experienced player and will definitely be tough to defeat in front of his home crowd. We toppled the Australians at their home few years ago. So why not repeat the
performance? All the French players are mentally and physically very strong and playing quite well since the start of the year. They have shown a lot of temperament and courage. They will definitely be well up for the challenge,” said Forget.
Simon blasted a total of six aces during the opening set and grabbed a closely contested tiebreak with the help of a forehand volley.
The opening break-point opportunity of the clash for either player came during the seventh game of the second set, when Eduardo had to save his serve on a total of three occasions with Gilles putting him under pressure.
Gilles’ tenth ace of the clash set up a total of two match points at 6-4 up. However, Eduardo prevented both and then set up a set point of his own with the help of a neat drop shot. He then tied the match with a strong forehand return on Simon’s serve.
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