France was eliminated from the Davis Cup from the group stage after Germany’s victory against Belgium (2-1) on Friday in Hamburg, which took away any chance for the Blues to qualify for the quarter-finals.
Defeat in their first two games against Germany (2-1) on Wednesday then Australia (2-1) on Thursday, the France team once again failed to get out of the group stage of the competition after the 2021 edition. Sébastien Grosjean’s men may have regrets after this failure in a group that the captain of the Blues considered “homogeneous” before the competition.
Missed opportunities, missed double break points…
In the first game against Germany on Wednesday, Benjamin Bonzi (53rd player in the world) had two match points against Jan-Lennard Struff (132nd), who finally won the first point, giving Germany the advantage . Despite the victory of Adrian Mannarino (47th) in the second single then a good resistance in doubles, the Blues finally lost, starting the competition badly.
Against Australia on Thursday, Richard Gasquet (79th), who arrived as a reinforcement as the fifth man, played his role perfectly, beating Jason Kubler (97th) cleanly in two sets. Benjamin Bonzi then shook Alex de Minaur (22nd). But there again, missed opportunities like those missed double break points in the third set, allowed de Minaur, who led 4 games to 2, to hang on to finally bring Lleyton Hewitt’s men back to equality. Before the Australian doubles dictated its law to the pair Nicolas Mahut / Arthur Rinderknech.
A last meeting without stake
More masters of their destiny, the French had only slim chances of qualification after these two inaugural defeats. By beating Belgium with difficulty on Friday (2-1) after a decisive double, Germany put an end to it, taking a qualifying place, the other going to Australia.
The Blues will play a last meeting, therefore without stake, against Belgium on Saturday (from 2 p.m., Paris time).