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France opts for Tsonga, Chardy in singles
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France captain Yannick Noah sprang a surprise at yesterday’s Davis Cup final draw ceremony when he named Jeremy Chardy and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as his singles players for the opening day’s action in Lille.
Already without the likes of Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils for the final against Croatia, Noah decided to leave out Lucas Pouille, the top-ranked player in his squad. World No. 40 Chardy will open the tie today against Croatia’s Borna Coric with Tsonga then taking on Marin Cilic.
Cilic and Coric are ranked seventh and 12th, respectively, making captain Zeljko Krajan’s decision on his singles players a straightforward one.
“I’m a little surprised Jeremy (Chardy) plays,” Cilic said at the draw ceremony, “I was expecting Lucas and Jo. They will have the opportunity to change on Sunday probably with Lucas entering in the place of Jeremy.”
Tsonga, 259th in the ATP rankings, missed seven months of the year because of knee surgery and has played only 11 singles matches this year on the Tour.
He lost in the first round in Vienna and Paris recently.
Leaving out the 32nd-ranked Pouille is a potential gamble although the 33-year-old Tsonga, an ex-world No. 5, has a fine pedigree and a big-match character. He also played in last year’s final when France beat Belgium.
Tsonga has lost five of his seven matches against Cilic, although they have played only once since 2015.
Chardy, 31, has impressed Noah during practice and his 2-1 head-to-head record over Coric may have been a factor in his decision. He is 2-3 against Cilic.
Tomorrow’s doubles will see home pair Nicolas Mahut and Pierre Hugues-Herbert take on Mate Pavic and Ivan Dodig.
France is the defending champions and is trying to win the title for the 11th time, while Croatia is seeking to repeat its 2005 triumph when it beat Slovakia.
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