Neither Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, nor Gilles Simon. The new captain of the French team for the Davis Cup and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games is called Paul-Henri Mathieu. “An obvious and unanimous choice for the FFT, given his past functions and achievements within the Federation, his experience and his knowledge of the field, but also the quality of the relationships he maintains with all the players and coaches. »
Retired from sports since 2017, PHM returned to the fold of the FFT two and a half years ago. He knows the French team well having been a coach alongside the previous captain, Sébastien Grosjean, whom he does not forget in his presentation speech during a last-minute video press conference.
Return to basics hoped for
“I am proud, honored and moved to have this position today,” declared Paul-Henri Mathieu, to whom the cursed final against Russia in 2002 never made him lose his taste for this competition. , even distorted by the actions of decision-makers more eager for profits than for history. He will fight, he promises, in due time to restore this tournament to a more appropriate format. “I’m not a fan of this new formula, nothing replaces ‘home and away’. It’s important to be able to play at home because it helps promote our sport. Why not get together with the other captains. We know that discussions are underway, possibly for 2025. We will follow this issue closely. » Because what is the point of obtaining results on the ashes of a competition that no longer interests anyone?
PHM wants to encourage singles players to play doubles
We will be very happy to see the old format resurrected the day this miracle happens. But right now, the priority is elsewhere. The Blues, the Olympics, it’s tomorrow. Just now, even. “It’s going to be a busy year. I think we need to be as competitive as possible, to give ourselves chances of winning medals. » PHM does not refrain from anything, not even discussing with Adrian Mannarino, who does not consider himself good enough to occupy a place in the French Olympic delegation on clay. In any case, the medal objective of French tennis will probably take a route other than singles (no player in the world Top 15).
“We are going to create specific support for doubles players to maximize our chances,” says PHM. We will delve deeper into the subject in the coming weeks. Today we know that the doubles is a crucial point in the Davis Cup and a chance of a medal at the Olympics. »
Behind an aging tandem of Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin and in the absence of immediate succession, the new captain urges the singles players to align themselves with doubles as much as possible to create new automatisms and be ready to replace the dinosaurs in case of injury. In the long term, “we will have to see if there is a doubles school to open” to save the institution in France.
From a global point of view, the former almost gravedigger of Rafael Nadal at Roland-Garros wishes to continue the work already started at the federation, at the high level, on data. “We have already integrated the data for a year and a half since I arrived. We offer stats to all French players who participate in Grand Slam qualifiers and final draws. We will try to work on our partnership with Tennis Stat, with more in-depth statistics. ” Why not after all. At the point where French tennis is, we are taking anything that could make it shine a little.