Davis Cup, France

FINAL

FIRST RUBBER:  [7] David Goffin (BEL) vs. [18] Lucas Pouille (FRA)

Despite leading their head-to-head 3:0, Pouille was no match for the confident Belgian. The first set was tightly contested; however, once Pouille lost the set, he lost his way.  Goffin won 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 to give the Belgians the early point lead.

SECOND RUBBER: [15] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) vs. [76] Steve Darcis (BEL)

It was now up to Tsonga to get a point for the French team.  This was the first time he was facing Darcis and Tsonga needed to understand his strategy and figure out his strengths and weaknesses.  He had opportunities to break the Belgian in three consecutive service games and he finally capitalized in the eighth game to go up 5-3. Darcis made him earn the set though and pushed him to deuce before Tsonga served his way out of trouble.

Like Pouille in the first match, once Darcis lost the first set, it was one-way traffic for the Frenchman. Tsonga relaxed and his game got better.  Darcis was unable to counter the pace of shots from his opponent and he was broken immediately in his first two service games in the second set. While Darcis had to fight off breaks points in every set; Tsonga never faced a break point against his serve the entire match.

Riding a bigger wave of confidence after securing the first two sets and sensing his opponent’s waning confidence; Tsonga increased the intensity of his attack. Darcis was unable to handle the increased pace of shots coming from his opponent and Tsonga won the third set quite easily to win the match 6-3, 6-2, 6-1.

The final is now tied up at one point each. Which team will break the tie tomorrow? Can the doubles team of Richard Gasquet and Pierre-Hugues Herbert stop the Belgium duo of Ruben Bemelmans and Joris De Loore? Herbert is well-known for his doubles prowess with partner Nicolas Mahut; however, there was a switch for the final tie and Mahut was replaced by Gasquet.  Will that be costly for the French?

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