Happy Saturday for the French.
Following the success of Luca Van Assche (19 years old, 68th in the world) against Yu-Hsiou Hsu (6-4, 6-4) for his first start in the Davis Cup, Adrian Mannarino won against Tung-Lin Wu (238th in the world) in the second singles of the first day, this Saturday in Taipei.
Thanks to these two victories, France leads 2-0 against Taiwan in the Davis Cup play-off match and already takes an option on qualification.
On the court, the 17th in the world, who fell to Novak Djokovic at the last Australian Open, confirmed his status as French number 1 and brought his experience and solidity to bear.
Despite a successful break by his opponent at the start of each round, he came back each time, without panicking and holding the game together, before gaining the upper hand over a modest opponent.
The French left-hander finished with a “shutout” game, with two aces and a winning service (6-3, 7-5), thus signing his sixth consecutive victory in the Davis Cup.
“It wasn't easy against an opponent who tried everything and anything.
Fortunately, I managed to serve well and that helped me make the difference.
I put less intensity in the second set, he took advantage of it, but I rectified the situation and it was pretty good,” analyzed Adrian Mannarino on BeIN Sports after the match.
The doubles composed of the pair Mahut - Roger-Vasselin, who will play on Sunday, could already bring the decisive point to the Blues before the last two singles if necessary.
If there is qualification, France and the eleven other winners of the play-offs will join the last two finalists (Italy and Australia, automatically qualified) and two invited countries (Great Britain and Spain), to compete in the group stage of this competition between September 10 and 15.
Before dreaming of a possible final phase in Malaga in November.