Davis Cup: Czech Republic vs. France

City: Ostrava, Czech Republic
Surface: Indoor Carpet
Head-To-Head: France 7-6



Team Czech Republic
Tomas Berdych, Radek Stepanek, Jan Hernych, Lukas Dlouhy
Team Captain: Jaroslav Navratil
Best Davis Cup Performance: Champion 1980



Team France
Gilles Simon, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Richard Gasquet, Michael Llodra
Team Captain: Guy Forget
Best Davis Cup Performance: 9 Time Champions 1927- 1932, 1991, 1996, 2001

Pick: Team France

This is the first Davis Cup teaming of Les Nouveaux Mousquetaires on the French team. All of the four are ranked in the top twenty. On paper, it looks like France should not have any trouble against the Czechs, but Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek could pose a problem for the Musketeers. Stepanek has already won two ATP titles this year. French doubles could also be a problem since they do not have Llodra and Clement, and the Czechs have a doubles specialist in Lukas Dlouhy.

Update: Gael Monfils has pulled out and been replaced by Michael Llodra. Llodra will play doubles with Gasquet.

Individual Head-To Head Match ups:

Stepanek-Simon 1-1 Berdych-Simon 1-2
Stepanek-Tsonga 0-1 Berdych-Tsonga 0-0
Stepanek-Monfils 1-2 Berdych-Monfils 1-0
Stepanek-Gasquet 2-0 Berdych-Gasquet 0-2

Moral to the story: keep Gasquet away from The Worm.