The Davis Cup in Kosmos and Gerard Pique fashion has been over since January 13. That day, the International Federation (ITF) announced that it was taking over the centenary competition. Nicolas Mahut reacted early February in The Teamjudging that Bernard Giudicelli, then president of the French Federation but also vice-president of the ITF, had “a great deal of responsibility in this fiasco”.
The leader had been an ardent supporter of the change of formula and the transfer of the Davis Cup to Kosmos, in 2018. And he did not, but then not at all digested the words of Mahut, winner of the event in 2017 . On the Tennis Actu websiteGiudicelli assures that the Angevin “is someone who speaks without knowing, quite simply”, assuring that the supporters of Kosmos had “saved” a competition “that the best players no longer played”.
“It is not a 41-year-old player who is going to explain to a 20 or 22-year-old player how things should work, insisted the former boss of French tennis (from 2017 to 2021), who will celebrate his 65th birthday on February 20. Well, Mahut is good for retirement. He needs to retire and maybe become a journalist. This will give him the opportunity to make harsh criticisms, which he does quite well by the way. »
Clement exhausted Giudicelli
The reactions of several players, current or former, quickly fused. “We don’t disrespect Nicolas Mahut like that,” tweeted Édouard Roger-Vasselin, who often played doubles with the forties.
Julien Benneteau (captain of the French Fed Cup team) or Arnaud Clément, ephemeral vice-president of the FFT alongside Gilles Moretton, opponent of Giudicelli and particularly virulent, also defended their colleague, five-time Grand Slam winner and twice winner of the Masters in doubles with Pierre-Hugues Herbert.