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Visit the Musketeers
Russia will play against France in the Davis Cup for the second year in a row
The quarterfinal match of the World Group of the Davis Cup France - Russia will begin today in the city's sports palace. The match between Richard Gasquet and Marat Safin will begin. Following them will be Arnaud Clément and Nikolai Davydenko. Clément and Michel Llodra have been previously announced for Saturday's doubles match with the hosts; the Russians plan to field Mikhail Youzhny and Dmitry Tursunov.Let us recall that in February, in the first round of the competition, which came at the very beginning of the White Olympiad in Turin, the Russians did not experience the slightest problem in an away match with the Dutch national team, drained of blood by injuries to leading tennis players Sjeng Schalken and Martin Ferkerk - 5:0. The advantage of the French over the German team was also convincing, despite the score 3:2. The Tricolors secured victory after just two days of play, winning two singles matches and a doubles match.
As part of the Davis Cup, the French team met our team for the first time in 1973. In Moscow, the victory for the hosts was brought to them by the now famous TV commentator Alexander Metreveli, who scored the decisive point for the USSR in this tense match. In 1977, the French did not show up for the European zone semi-final match, and the next meeting between the rivals took place in the year of the Moscow Olympics on the courts in Montpellier - 3:2 in favor of the hosts. In the spring of 1983, the legendary Yanick Noah, who was in his prime, and another “musketeer”, Henri Lecomte, showed a master class for Moscow tennis fans. The French convincingly won against the Soviet team at the Small Luzhniki Sports Arena - 4:1.
The final match of the 2002 Davis Cup on the clay of the Paris sports complex "Bercy" became the brightest page in the history of Russian men's tennis. It turned out that the fate of the match and the entire tournament was determined by far from the strongest tennis players of the opposing teams - Mikhail Youzhny and Paul-Henri Mathieu. In the epic battle, the victory went to the Russians, although Yuzhny lost in sets 0:2 during the match. Last July, on the courts of the Olympic Stadium in Moscow, the Russians were again stronger than France in the quarterfinals - 3:2, and in the decisive match Mathieu again folded, losing crushingly to Igor Andreev - 0:6, 2:6, 1:6 .
The current squad of the French national team does not include the loser Mathieu. Team captain Guy Forget called 19-year-old Richard Gasquet, more experienced Arnaud Clément and Sebastien Grosjean, as well as Michel Llodra, who specializes in playing doubles, under the tricolor banner. In the arena where the famous Pau-Orthez basketball team plays, the French have hosted their opponents in the Davis Cup four times and have never lost. The Yugoslavs, Brazilians, Belgians and Czechs suffered defeats on the synthetic surface, which was laid this time as well.
Former world number one Marat Safin, who missed most of last season due to a knee injury, has not played for our team for more than a year. Safin's return to the national team is a big plus, although he is not its leader now. The role of the leading player belongs to Nikolay Davydenko, who ranks sixth in the 52-week ATP rankings. The company of these two tennis players in the team led by Shamil Tarpishchev included Mikhail Youzhny and Dmitry Tursunov, who permanently resides in America.
The Palais des Sports in Pau seats about seven thousand spectators. Tickets for the upcoming match are sold at reasonable prices - from 23 to 39 euros. On Friday and Sunday, singles matches will begin at 15:00 Moscow time, and Saturday's doubles match will begin at 16:45. On the same days, the current trophy holders, the Croatians, host Argentina in Zagreb. It is still unclear whether Ivan Ljubicic, who made the biggest contribution to last year's victory for the hosts, will take to the court in Lida. After losing to the Swiss Roger Federer in the recent final of the Masters tournament in Miami, he was tormented by abdominal pain. Interestingly, as of this season, Ljubicic is the only active player to serve as captain of his team in the Davis Cup.
The winner of the match France - Russia in the next round advances to the strongest in the pair USA - Chile. This is the only quarter-final match played on a grass court. The logic of decision-making by the captain of the American team, Patrick McEnroe, can be clearly seen. He knows very well that for pronounced clay players, quick coverage is like death, and he deliberately chooses the lawn, although his players are strong at playing on hard. It's only the second time in a decade that Team USA has hosted opponents on grass. Four years ago, McEnroe caught the Spaniards in this, and now he is waiting for the Chileans in the town of Mission Hills in a small provincial stadium that can accommodate only four thousand fans.