Monfils and Llodra hit form in time for Davis Cup final
Gael Monfils and Michael Llodra narrowly failed to master Paris, losing in the final and semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Masters respectively, but their form ahead of the Davis Cup bodes well for France.
Guy Forget’s team are due to take on Serbia in the Davis Cup final from December 3rd to 5th and if the performances of Monfils and Llodra at the Paris Masters are anything to judge by, we may be in for a boil over at the Belgrade Arena.
Sure, Serbia have turned the venue into something of a fortress in recent times, but though they have the home advantage, the Serbs simply don’t have the depth of talent at their disposal that the French do.
Serbia’s chances of claiming their maiden Davis Cup title rest largely on the racquet of world No. 3 Novak Djokovic – although to be fair it was Janko Tipsarevic who starred by defeating Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek, the latter in the deciding singles rubber, against the Czech Republic in the semis.
By contrast, France are spoiled for choice even without the injured French No. 2 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at their disposal.
Monfils and Llodra are joined by Gilles Simon, Richard Gasquet, Arnaud Clement and Julien Benneteau as possible inclusions in what will ultimately be a four-player team, with Monfils and Llodra surely putting up their hands to shoulder the burden of playing in the singles rubbers for their country in the final.
Llodra was defeated by eventual champion Robin Soderling at the BNP Paribas Masters, but not before he’d knocked out defending champion Djokovic in the quarter-finals.
That will surely be somewhere near the forefront of the captain’s mind when he decides who will play what role for his team in the decider.
And if Llodra can be expected to play singles after experiencing a renaissance in the year he turned 30 – he’s just this week reached a career-high mark of world No. 23, making the left-hander France’s No. 3 player ahead of world No. 29 Gasquet – then Monfils must be all-but guaranteed to do so.
Certainly, he showed the fight that’s required for Davis Cup success in Paris, staving off two match points against ninth ranked Fernando Verdasco in the third round and then defeating top-five player Andy Murray in his next match before prevailing over 16-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer in three tiebreak sets in the semis.
Sure, the showman enjoys an appreciative crowd (and he won’t get that in Belgrade) but if he can continue in the same manner against Serbia, France will be well on their way to winning their 10th Davis Cup title this December.
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