The French team, led in particular by Ugo Humbert and Arthur Fils, will have to play at its best from Tuesday to Sunday against Australia, the Czech Republic and Spain, host of a tough group in Valencia, to reach the final phase.
For his first campaign, French captain Paul-Henri Mathieu passed the qualifying phase obstacle with a quiet success in Taiwan in February, but things get serious with this group stage, which takes place in four different countries, indoors and on hard courts. Since the reform of the Davis Cup in 2019, France has never managed to get past this stage of the competition.
The unfortunate finalist of the 2002 edition called upon Arthur Rinderknech, versatile in singles and doubles, an exercise in which the two other members of the blue squad, Pierre-Hugues Herbert and the veteran Edouard Roger-Vasselin (40 years old), are experienced. To compete in the final stages which will also be held in Spain, in Malaga, from November 19 to 24, the French will have to finish in one of the first two places since the eight best teams at the end of this phase will qualify. The three days of competition for the “PHM” men will each include two singles and then a double, in theory potentially decisive.
They will start on Tuesday (4:00 p.m.) in Group B against Australia, defeated in the final in 2022 and 2023, and who have not won the competition for 21 years. The Australians, will be deprived of their leader Alex de Minaur, are nonetheless formidable with Alexei Popyrin and Jordan Thompson in particular. Friday (4:00 p.m.) will take place the most anticipated match against the Spaniards of Carlos Alcaraz. Beaten in the 2nd round of the US Open, the world No. 3 will certainly be looking for redemption. Finally, on Saturday (4:00 p.m.), Humbert and his colleagues will perhaps play for their qualification against the Czech Republic, an opponent a priori within their reach.
In Bologna, in Group A, defending champion Italy will be without world No. 1 Janik Sinner, crowned Sunday in New York in the US Open final. Facing the Belgians, Brazilians and Dutch, the Italians will also be without Lorenzo Musetti, bronze medalist at the Paris Olympics. In Group C, held in Zhuhai (China), Germany will meet Slovakia, Chile and the United States. In Group D played in Manchester, Great Britain will face Argentina, Canada and Finland.
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