The French bring hauteur and history, the British downbeat confidence with a few laughs: that was the mood of the teams at Thursday’s draw for their Davis Cup quarter-final at Queen’s Club in London, which starts on Friday.
The Great Britain squad have been a strong, happy unit during Leon Smith’s five-year stewardship, and the in-jokes and camaraderie that have underpinned much of their success was firmly in place, with James Ward the butt of Andy Murray’s jokes again.
The world No3 said: “We played one game [at the team hotel the previous evening] where everyone has to give themselves a rating out of 10 for their total package – and everyone else then has to mark you and you see how close to reality you are. Wardy was way off.”
In the opening singles, Ward will need to get a bit serious when he takes on France’s highest-ranked player, Gilles Simon, who has been playing well on grass this summer and revealed he knows the Londoner’s game well.
“I have practised a lot with James the last two years, because our coaches are really close,” Simon said. “We shared a lot of practice sessions, so I’m maybe the one who knows him the best in the team. I know what to expect. It’s going to be hard but I am ready for the match and I’m sure it’s going to be a good one.”
“I’m excited [to lead off],” Ward said at a venue no more than half a mile from where he was born and still lives – although Smith confirmed the players are staying together in a London hotel. Ward added: “These are big times to be a part of. Whether you’re first or second, we’re both ready for it.”
The French captain, Arnaud Clément, underlined the importance to his compatriots of a competition they have won nine times (as have Great Britain). France lost to Switzerland in the 2014 final but are third in the world rankings and have reached this stage of the competition six years in a row, going on to the semis four times.
“It means a lot,” Clément said. “It’s part of the story of our country and our sport. We all here at this table grew up watching Davis Cup and dreaming about one day winning the Davis Cup on the court.”
In the second singles on Friday afternoon, Murray plays Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, whom he has beaten in 10 of their 12 matches, most relevantly on the grass of Queen’s in the final four years ago.
Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot were named to play Richard Gasquet and Nicolas Mahut in the doubles on Saturday, although the lineups can be changed up to an hour before the 1pm start, should either captain judge it tactically necessary.
If the opening singles matches go to seedings and the tie is level after the first day – as is most likely – Andy Murray may decide to partner either his brother or Inglot in the doubles, although he did not sound that enthusiastic on the idea after a tough Wimbledon campaign.
Smith was mildly surprised that Clément could not find a singles place for Gasquet, who reached the Wimbledon semi-finals for the second time last week, adding: “I don’t know how Richard is feeling. Maybe he’s got a few niggles. He had a great Wimbledon.”
As Clément explained: “Richard did need a little more time for recovery after his semi-final last week [at Wimbledon], and Gilles and Jo have had more time to recover. They are all very close [in the rankings], so for me it was a logical choice.”
Friday’s singles
James Ward v Gilles Simon; Andy Murray v Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Saturday’s doubles
Dominic Inglot & Jamie Murray v Richard Gasquet & Nicolas Mahut
Sunday’s singles
Andy Murray v Simon; Ward v Tsonga
