Davis Cup time is upon us again and The US will face a tough match against France this weekend. It will be difficult one for a number of reasons which I will get to later, but you never know in Davis Cup; hopefully the Americans will put their best face forward against a solid French team.
What are some of the challenges?
1) The US is the away team
Monte Carlo Country Club will be the site for this quarter. Of course the Europeans have chosen clay which is considered the American's worst surface. American supporters, keep one thing in mind, The US team just came off a sweep against Fed and his Swiss squad in Switzerland, on clay. The French contention might be a tougher task than the actual surface.
2) The US without it's top player
Mardy Fish, unfortunately, will be out of the tie siting fatigue. This is a huge loss for the American team as he is their pulse. Young Ryan Harrison, #66 ATP ranked player, will try to fill in his shoes. He states that he is confident as he grew up playing on clay down in Louisiana. He will be facing a top ten player in Jo-Willie Tsonga and that's as far as we know of the French line up. Guy Forget, French captain, has a couple of decisions to make before Friday's match up.
3) The Players and key match ups
| American Team | Ranking | French Team | Ranking |
| John Isner | 11 | Jo Willie Tsonga | 6 |
| Ryan Harrison | 66 | Giles Simon | 13 |
| Bob Bryan | Doubles 1 | Michael Llodra | Singels 48, Doubles 5 |
| Mike Bryan | Doubles 1 | Julien Benneteau | 31 |
The American line up is set but the French are facing a couple of obstacles. Giles Simon is nursing a bad back and might not play until reverse singles on Sunday. This could be a huge opportunity for the Americans to steal a point or two on Friday with a possible Llodra-Harrison or Benneteau-Harrison match up. Because Forget has not decided on his singles, doubles is still in the air as well. We could see a Tsonga-Llodra team which propelled them to the semis of last year's Davis Cup. Another possibility would be a team of Llodra-Benneteau who are 1-0 in this year's contest. Whomever the French put in it will be a tough task as both Bryan brothers are back. This should be a point for the Americans but it can be tricky. The match to look for that will set the stage is Isner-Tsonga. They have a carrier head-to-head of 1 to 1 with Jo Willie winning the last one in Paris and Isner winning their first encounter in Washington, DC. This will be a battle of solid servers and big hitters. Look for this match up to set the tone and for Guy Forget to reset his team line up.
It will be a tough task for the Americans to pull of an "upset" in Monte Carlo but their chances are higher than most think. Granted that Fish is out, Harrison has played very well and is the future of American tennis. Also, John Isner has done two things that Jo-Willie hasn't done this year, reach the finals of a Masters1000 event and beat Roger Federer. This should give big John a huge confidence booster. Should be a great match!
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