Frankfurt, Germany (SportsNetwork.com) – Nine-time champion France and three-
time winner Germany will do battle in an opening-round Davis Cup tie this
weekend.
The best-of-five affair will commence Friday with opening singles rubbers
between former top-10 star Gilles Simon and Jan-Lennard Struff and another
former top-10 Frenchman, Gael Monfils, and Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Saturday’s doubles will pit a French team of Julien Benneteau and Nicolas
Mahut against a German tandem of Benjamin Becker and Andre Begemann.
Sunday’s reverse singles have the world No. 14 Simon taking on the 28th-ranked
Kohlschreiber and the No. 19 Monfils tangling with the 74th-ranked Struff on
an indoor hardcourt at Frankfurt’s Fraport Arena.
France is captained by former Australian Open runner-up Arnaud Clement, while
Germany is guided by Michael Kohlmann.
The Germans and French are meeting in a rematch of a World Group quarterfinal
from last year.
Looking to put an end to a 76-year losing streak against France, Germany won
both singles rubbers on Day 1 last year only for the host French to roar back
from 0-2 down for just the fourth time in their history.
The Germans have not defeated their European counterparts since 1938, but they
are on a three-tie winning run at home, including a victory over Spain in the
first round last year.
The France-Germany winner will meet the Great Britain-United States victor in
a July quarterfinal.
The French are 8-2 all-time versus the Germans in this storied competition.
France lost to visiting Switzerland 3-1 in last year’s Davis Cup final in
Lille.
