Tsonga to Miss Davis Cup Following Wimbledon Showing
French captain Guy Forget announced on Saturday that Gilles Simon and Paul-Henri Mathieu have been named on the French team in the Davis Cup quarter-final tie against Spain. The duo will be joining the team in order to replace French number one Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet, who have both left the tournament due to injury.
Tsonga, who is ranked 10th worldwide, reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon and flew to Paris after being defeated against Andy Murray, for tests on his left knee. The French player will be out of commission for at least a month, as his already damaged knee became progressively worse during his climb to the Wimbledon quarter-finals, while Gasquet who was nominated as a fifth member of the team, is out of the tournament due to a back injury.
"It's a hard blow because we counted on Jo and Richard," the France captain said.
"Jo has knee problems. You could see it against Murray at Wimbledon. Apparently it's quite serious. He could be out for several weeks. For Richard, it's not quite as bad but he can't train properly."
The 25 year-old has suffered from a great deal of injuries over the past three years. In 2008, he also spent much of the tennis season out with a bad right knee that required surgery. He also sat out for a stretch with a serious wrist injury in 2009 that followed him into 2010.
Tsonga first became known in the tennis world through his performance at the 2008 Australian Open when, as an unseeded player, he reached the final after defeating four seeded players, including a win over the then world ranked No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals. Tsonga eventually lost in the finals to world No. 3 Novak Djokovic after winning the first set out of four.
Tsonga had been picked by Forget to play singles in Clermont-Ferrand. Jeremy Chardy will replace the injured Paul-Henri Mathieu in France's Davis Cup team, when they face Spain in a quarter-final tie next weekend.
After much of the team seemed to be taking a break due to injury, Gilles Simon from France agreed to come to the rescue and overcame his recent knee injury to play in next week's Davis Cup World Group quarter-final against four-time champion Spain.
Spain, the defending champions, have been the winners for the last two years. Spain will also be missing a player as Rafael Nadal, the World No. 1, is due to undergo therapy on his right knee next week after winning his second Wimbledon title.
“Spain is the world champion, and they have a very strong team even when [Rafael] Nadal is injured, so we know what to expect and we’re going to have to play our best tennis if we’re to have a chance,” said Forget, who has been the Davis cup team captain since he retired as a professional tennis player in 1996.
Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra will contest the doubles for the French team. The French team will be using Simon, along with Jeremy Chardy, who will join Gael Monfils, Michael Llodra and Julien Benneteau on the French team. One of the five players in the team will be an alternate; however it was not specified by Forget which player will be the alternate. The complete French team includes Benneteau, Llodra, Mathieu, Monfils, and Simon.
France will host the tie, which will take place at Zenith - Grande Halle d'Auvergne in Clermont-Ferrand on July 9th– 11th.
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