Charismatic captain Yannick Noah on Sunday reckoned that the “losing culture” of French men’s tennis had been dispelled by the way his team had powered to their first Davis Cup title in 16 years.
One of the major Davis Cup nations, France had lost three finals since 2001, but the return of Noah as captain seemed to have transformed their mindset as they beat Belgium 3-2 to claim their 10th title.
Yet his team also seemed to be have been galvanized by a defiant streak after criticism of what were considered previous failures.
Photo: Reuters
Lucas Pouille, who bagged the winning point with a 6-3, 6-1, 6-0 thrashing of Steve Darcis, even wondered aloud why reporters would not applaud the team when they walked into the news conference.
“We would have been more applauded if we had lost,” Pouille said.
Noah had taken charge in 2015, a year after Les Bleus were defeated in the final by Switzerland, their third consecutive defeat at that stage after losses in 2002 and 2010.
The idea was that one of the nation’s favorite sportsmen might recreate the feelgood factor of when he had previously led the team to victory in 1991 and 1996.
“When you don’t win for 16 years, everybody is getting used to losing. That losing culture, it was destroying me,” Noah said at the news conference.
Unlike his predecessor, Arnaud Clement, who had a much tougher task in 2014 when his team had to tackle Switzerland’s Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka in the final at the same Stade Pierre Mauroy, Noah’s men had been expected to deliver against a team so heavily reliant on one player, David Goffin.
“When they got here the Belgians were carefree, while we had something heavy to carry,” Noah said.
Pouille, who felt he had proved a point with his decisive win over Darcis after criticism of his opening day loss to Goffin, said: “I’m happy that I played like this after some had buried me on Friday.”
The win restored France’s reputation as Davis Cup powerhouses as they joined Britain as 10-time winners behind the US (32) and Australia (28).
The team led by Tsonga, have often previously been dubbed the Musketeers, in reference to the Four Musketeers — Jean Borotra, Jacques Brugnon, Henri Cochet and Rene Lacoste — who dominated tennis in the 1920s and 1930s.
However, that did not impress one of the victorious team, Richard Gasquet.
“We never asked to be named the Musketeers, it’s grotesque,” Gasquet said. “I’m just very happy that we managed to win that competition, we’d been trying to win it for a long time, it’s fantastic.”
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care