France believe the swashbuckling talents of Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga can cut down defending champions the US when the two nations clash in a mouthwatering Davis Cup quarter-final in April.
The US, with a record 31 wins in the tournament, will start as slight favorites for the April 11-13 encounter with the tie to be played on home ground at Winston-Salem in North Carolina.
Buoyed by huge home support, the US saw off Spain 4-1 at the same venue in last year's quarter-finals, a victory wrapped up after just two days when Andy Roddick and James Blake as well as the formidable Bryan brothers doubles team swept to victory.
"We won't be favorites, and so we'll have the advantage of playing without pressure. It's motivating, especially when I know the Americans will fear us," said Tsonga, the surprise Australian Open finalist this year.
France haven't won in the US since 1927, the year they went on to win the first of their nine Davis Cup titles.
They reached this year's quarter-finals by seeing off Romania 5-0 while America eased past Austria 4-1.
"It will be a huge occasion against the best team in the world, in front of a packed stadium," said France captain Guy Forget.
"But we have very talented players whom I hope will be at the peak of their game just after Key Biscayne [Masters tournament]."
USA captain Patrick McEnroe admitted that France have two thrilling singles players, as well as a tried and tested doubles combination in Michael Llodra and Arnaud Clement, but believes home ground will be key.
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Armed with three solid men’s singles shuttlers and doubles Olympic champions, Taiwan aim to make their first Thomas Cup semi-final, Chou Tien-chen said Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying yesterday quickly dispatched Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in straight sets, while her male counterpart Chou Tien-chen beat Germany’s Kai Schaefer, as Taiwan’s women’s and men’s teams won their Group B opening rounds of the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Chengdu, China. World No. 5 Tai beat Goh 21-19, 22-20 in a speedy 33 minutes, her fourth straight victory over the world No. 24 shuttler since they first faced each other in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Malaysia Open, where Tai went on to win the women’s singles title. Malaysia followed up Tai’s opening victory
Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open. Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2. Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16. Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian
Chen Yi-tung (陳奕通) secured a historic Olympic berth on Sunday by winning the senior men’s foil event at the 2024 Asia Oceania Zonal Olympic Fencing Qualifiers in United Arab Emirates. Chen defeated Samuel Elijah of Singapore 15-4 in the final in Dubai to secure the only wild card in the event, making him the first male Olympian fencer from Taiwan in 36 years and only the sixth Taiwanese fencer to ever qualify for the quadrennial event. The last appearance by a Taiwanese male fencer at the Olympics was in 1988, when Wang San-tsai (王三財) and Cheng Ming-hsiang (鄭明祥) competed in Seoul. The
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with