ITF announces Team France line-up for 2011 Davis Cup semi-final – Tennis News
Last but certainly not the least, International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced the line-up for Team France for their semi-final tie in the 2011 Davis Cup World Group against Team Spain for 16th to 18th
September. Team France visits Cordoba, Spain for their semi-final tie against the locals.
If pundits believed the Spaniards to host a star-studded line-up including world number two Rafael Nadal and world number five David Ferrer, then the Frenchmen are surely something out of this world. With all the Spaniards ranked
inside the top 30 in the singles ranking, France has taken it a notch higher. Under the captaincy of French legend Guy Forget, France brings all top fifteen players to the tie.
Leading Team France as the top seeded player is the reigning world number seven Gael Monfils. A rising star this season, Monfils started off ranked outside the top ten. However, after stunning performances this year, Monfils has
reached his career best ranking of 7th in the world. A natural to the red surface, Monfils holds an impressive 11-6 win loss mark on the surface this season with a quarterfinal showing at the 2011 Roland Garros. A comparative newbie at the ITF event,
Monfils only debuted in 2009 and currently holds an impressive 5-2 career win loss mark.
Trailing Monfils in the line-up and ranked just outside the top ten is the Frenchman taking the world by the storm, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Ranked eleventh in the world, Tsonga is in excellent form this season. Although he doesn’t
sport an impressive statistic for clay, the former world number six has proved that he has what it takes to make it big amongst the top three. With two victories over the Swiss maestro at Wimbledon and the Rogers Cup, Tsonga is surely making ripples in the
tennis world. Another newbie at the event, Tsonga has only played in five Davis Cup ties recording a near perfect 7-1 career win loss mark.
Joining Monfils and Tsonga are two more clay experts and top fifteen players, world number twelve Gilles Simon and world number thirteen Richard Gasquet. Their addition to the team exponentially increases the talent pool of Team
France.
Runners up at the 2010 Davis Cup, Team France had failed to clinch the title victory after a gruelling battle with Team Serbia. Hoping to make another final run this year, a successful one indeed, Team France started its run playing
Austria in the first round earlier in the year where they only managed to make it into the quarterfinal round with a close 3-2 win. However, the reformed French steamrolled Team Germany as they secured a 4-1 win, winning three of four singles rubbers and the
doubles rubber.
As the team line-ups to take on the equally talented Team Spain, the tie is expected to be nothing short of fireworks. The winner will go on into the finals to play either Team Serbia featuring Novak Djokovic or Team Argentina
featuring Juan Martin Del Potro.
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