Richard Gasquet (35, 86th in the world) will complete the French Davis Cup team which enters the competition this Thursday against the Czech Republic. Hugo Gaston (21 years old, 66th), he will have to bench. Captain Sébastien Grosjean had taken a squad of six to Innsbruck, Austria, which he had to reduce to five for the competition. It is therefore Richard Gasquet, Arthur Rinderknech (58th), Adrian Mannarino (71st), Nicolas Mahut (5th in doubles) and Pierre-Hugues Herbert (8th in doubles) who will defend the colors of France. The Habs will challenge the Czech Republic this Thursday (4 p.m.), before Great Britain on Saturday (10 a.m.). If they qualify, they will be able to play in the quarter-finals, scheduled from November 29 to December 2.
Hugo Gaston, who jumped from 103rd to 67th place in the world after reaching the quarter-finals at the Masters 1000 in Paris, seemed to have the wind in their sails. He had been called up, along with Adrian Mannarino following the withdrawal of French n ° 2 Ugo Humbert who ended his season on October 30. The French n ° 1 Gaël Monfils, injured during the Bercy Open, had also ended his season but he was not part of the group initially selected by Grosjean on October 25.
"In view of their end of the season, Hugo Gaston and Adrian Mannarino deserve their place in the France team," Grosjean explained. Hugo signed a magnificent course at the Rolex Paris Masters by reaching the quarter-finals, with an exceptional quality of play. For his part, Adrian is back to a very interesting level of play after great victories against Andrey Rublev in Moscow and Nikoloz Basilashvili in Paris. I am therefore counting on them to help the French team to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup. Grosjean therefore finally opted for the experience of Gasquet in the face of Gaston's ardor. The Biterrois, who started in Davis Cup in 2005, will participate in his 21st campaign. He played 30 games with a record of 18 wins and 12 losses.He was part of the team that won the Silver Bowl in 2017 and the finalist teams in 2014 and 2018 (he had not played in the final).
