Noah’s gamble is rewarded as France take lead in Davis Cup
FRANCE captain Yannick Noah gambled on an untested pair for the pivotal Davis Cup final doubles against Belgium yesterday. But Richard Gasquet’s and PierreHugues Herbert’s win ensured that he was spared a ‘hot seat’ as Les Bleus moved into the driving seat.
Despite a big scare in the third set, Noah’s chosen duo beat Ruben Bemelmans and Joris De Loore 6-1 3-6 7-6(2) 6-4 as France moved 2-1 ahead and within one win of a 10th Davis Cup title before today’s reverse singles.
Noah had been expected to pick either Julien Benneteau or Nicolas Mahut, with whom Herbert won two grand slam titles, but he surprisingly went for Gasquet instead, thus putting out a combination who had never played a competitive match together.
‘It was a difficult decision because a lot of people did not have the same vision and even people within the group did not have the same vision,’ Noah, who led France to Davis Cup titles as captain in 1991 and 1996, told reporters.
Noah said: ‘It’s good for me that they won because otherwise I would have been on a hot seat.’
He explained that Gasquet had been included in the team to replace Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Lucas Pouille in the singles in case of injury.
‘This was a factor because I don’t think either of our three doubles specialists (Herbert, Benneteau and Mahut) would have been able to play a best-of-five set Davis Cup match on a Sunday,’ he said.
Belgium captain Johan Van Herck defended his selection after deciding not to make room in the pair for the in-form Goffin.
‘A doubles is about who can play well with who and my feeling was that Ruben and Joris were the best pair for us today,’ he said.
France will win the title before the fifth match if Tsonga beats world number seven David Goffin after both players impressed during their singles wins on Friday.
‘He has been thinking about this match for a while now and when he thinks about it, he sees himself winning it,’ said Noah.
He added: ‘He is ready.’