Return of the Davis Cup this Friday, February 3 for the French team which faces Hungary in the qualifying round.
After a month of January marked by the Australian Open, the Davis Cup is making a comeback in this first weekend of February with the qualifying round. France must face Hungary in the Tatabánya Multifunctional Arena, an enclosure that can accommodate up to 5,500 people. This 2023 qualifying round will bring together 24 selections. The 12 winning nations will join Canada and Australia (2022 finalists) as well as Italy and Spain (wild-cards) for the 2023 Davis Cup group stage.
For this poster, Sebastien Grosjean decided to summon Arthur Rinderknech, Adrian Mannarino, Benjamin Bonzi and Nicolas Mahut before adding Ugo Humbert as a fifth member. The player who has returned to form in recent weeks could be aligned in the second single from his first selection. Asked by The Team Thursday, February 2, Ugo Humbert talks about a competition that transcends him.
The draw for the qualifying round of the Davis Cup by Rakuten between Hungary and France was made this Thursday in Tatabánya and the match between Zsombor Piros and Benjamin Bonzi will open the ball. The program :
- Friday, February 3, 2023
- Benjamin Bonzi (FRA) – Zsombor Piros (HUN)
- Ugo Humbert (FRA) – Marton Fucsovics (HUN)
- Saturday, February 4, 2023 (from 12:00 p.m.)
- Mahut / Rinderknech (FRA) – Valkusz / Marozsan (HUN), followed by
- Benjamin Bonzi (FRA) – Marton Fucsovics (HUN), followed by
- Ugo Humbert (FRA) – Zsombor Piros (HUN)
If the formula is currently identical, this Davis Cup is the beginning of a new era with the withdrawal of Kosmos. Asked about this, Nicolas Mahut is very happy, but angry. “We lost four years, we should never have put ourselves in the conditions to live this experience. They may have thought they were making a good decision, but they saw that it was not working. That the idea to make it a sort of World Cup couldn’t work. The public didn’t respond. It’s a failure. It wasn’t even broadcast on the big channels in France anymore. I’m really mad at Haggerty (ITF President). He had the unfortunate habit of disappointing us, we can ask ourselves what will come of it now. And Bernard Giudicelli knows what I think of his decision as vice-president of the ITF and president of the FFT. He obviously bears a great deal of responsibility for this fiasco.”
- Friday 03 February
- Both singles from 2 p.m. on beIN SPORTS 2
- Saturday 04 February
- The double follow-up of the last two singles from 12 p.m. on beIN SPORTS 3
What formula for the Davis Cup 2023?
Broken contract with Kosmos. In a rather strange press release at the beginning of January, Dave Haggerty, the president of the ITF, “welcomes the tremendous success of the event for four years” (more money for the nations, for the players, more participation of the best , growing fan interest, etc.)… before writing that the contract with Kosmos is broken. No specific reason was mentioned as indicated by the FFT to The Team. But for a close source, “Kosmos got fired because, as many pundits predicted four years ago, they lost a lot of money and weren’t able to pay what they had. promised”.
For now, the formula decided with Kosmos, including a final phase in Malaga (November 21-26), remains as it is for this year.
What future for the Davis Cup?
“I believe that the Grand Slams must position themselves on the Davis Cup. We are working to federate the four Grand Slams, which are the pillars of the game, and the Davis Cup is part of our heritage. Afterwards, the format is a Another story… We are all going to get together and think about the future of the competition” explained the president of the FFT Gilles Morreton. Still according to L’Equipe, a group stage spread over two years with pools of four, home and away matches in round trip format (three matches in year 1, three matches in year 2); then a final phase in the third year would be under study. In an Olympic year, no Davis Cup but an Olympic team tournament.