![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
You are in: Tennis |
![]() |
|
![]() |
Wednesday, 27 November, 2002, 10:07 GMT
Team profile: France
![]() France beat Australia in last year's Davis Cup final
Captain: Guy Forget
Record: Won 1927, '28, '29, '30, '31, '32, '91, '96, 2001 Route to the final: Holland 3-2, Czech Republic 3-2, USA 3-2
Sebastien Grosjean
His Davis Cup record is impressive - he has won five out of six singles rubbers he has played this year and holds a 10-6 record overall. The 24-year-old is also a canny clay court performer and his relentless rallying coupled with a stunning forehand took him to the French Open quarter-final this year after a semi-final appearance in 2001.
Arnaud Clement
Singles wins over Andy Roddick and Sjeng Schalken have been crucial in France's advance to the final. He will be challenged by Paul-Henri Mathieu for the second singles berth alongside Sebastien Grosjean.
Nicolas Escude
He won both of his singles rubbers to almost single-handedly lead the outsiders to victory on their least favoured surface of grass.
He also holds the best Davis Cup record of the French team, having lost one of nine matches. But the 26-year-old does not thrive on slower surfaces and as this year's final takes place on indoor clay, his participation may be limited to the doubles on Saturday.
Fabrice Santoro
Though he has mainly been restricted to doubles action in France's run to the final, he clinched a 3-2 win in the quarter-finals with a five-set triumph over the Czech Republic's Bohdan Ulihrach. He has the measure of Marat Safin in singles but appears most likely to team up with Nicolas Escude for the pivotal doubles.
Paul-Henri Mathieu
The 20-year-old burst onto the scene at this year's French Open, taking a shell-shocked Andre Agassi to five sets, before he captured two titles in October and broke into the world top 50 for the first time.
He may lose out to Arnaud Clement in the battle for singles berths but will be ready to step in should any of his more experienced team-mates succumb to injury.
|
![]() |
Top Tennis stories now:
![]() ![]() Links to more Tennis stories are at the foot of the page.
![]() |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Links to more Tennis stories |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
------------------------------------------------------------ BBC News >> | BBC Weather >> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © MMIII | News Sources | Privacy |