Davis Cup Final: France ready to upset Serbia in front of home crowd
With the Davis Cup Final just four days away, nine time winners France opened practice today as they get ready to take on Serbia. France captain Guy Forget takes Arnaud Clement, Michael Llodra, Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils to
meet Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, Viktor Troicki, Janko Tipsarevic and Nenad Zimonjic. Serbian team captain is Bogdan Obradovic.
Although France has won the title nine times, she has managed a title win only three times since the beginning of the open era. Serbia, on the other hand, is going to appear in her first final this weekend. She only made it into
the World Group in 2008. Having exited the top tier in the first round last year, it is a big jump up for the Serbians to make it into the final this time.
Set in Belgrade, Serbia, the Serbian team will enjoy the home crowd advantage in the final. This very same advantage allowed the Serbian team to move past Czech Republic in the semi final with a 3-2 score. Unseeded Serbia has moved
into the finals after doing away with seeded teams in each round. Meeting third seed United States in the first round, Serbia moved ahead with a 3-2 score to meet sixth seed Croatia in the quarterfinals. Playing in front of Croatian home crowd, Serbia secured
an impressive 4-1 win over Croatia.
France, also unseeded in the event, did away with seeded teams in each round including the top seed Spain in the quarterfinals with perfect 5-0 score. She again managed a 5-0 score in the semi final against the fifth seed Argentina.
However, with both matches set in their own country, home crowd advantage played a major role in these victories.
Anxious about their match in front of an away crowd, France team captain Guy Forget told the press about his concerns. His concerns, however, have not diminished his confidence. He said,
"We are not afraid of anything, we know how good Novak (Djokovic) and the other (Serbian) boys are. We also know that when you play away the atmosphere is sometimes hard and you have to be ready. It's going to be a great match, a tough match and you know
we are really looking forward to it."
With French star player, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, out of the team due to an injury, the team has suffered a major setback talent wise. However, Tsonga will accompany the team to provide moral support to the rising star Monfils and Llodra,
as they take on Serbia.
With world number three Djokovic at her side; Serbia clearly is a big gun in the final. However, then again France has a history of upsetting big guns. French Nicolas Escude defeated former world number one Lleyton Hewitt in 2001
to take the Davis Cup against Australia.
Former winner, Henri Leconte, who led the team to its 1991 victory against United States, expects the final to be simply spectacular. Talking about it to the press, he said, "I think we will have a weekend of great tennis because
Djokovic is playing very well and the French team have also been very well prepared in the last 10 days, they are very keen to go out there and do their best to win. With the home crowd behind Serbia, they are the favorites but that's normal and we have to
respect it.”
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