In Shanghai this Sunday, Gilles Simon and Roger Federer will contest a Masters 1000 final, which has many ramifications leading into not only for the World Tour Finals, but more significantly the Davis Cup final concluding the tennis season.
Naturally going into the tennis equivalent of a World Cup, the two players likely to feature against the Swiss for France, Jo Wilfried Tsonga and Gaël Monfils both could find themselves playing a lesser part than they’d originally imagined due to a number of variables. Firstly both Monfils and Tsonga haven’t been playing tennis matches both out injured and missing Shanghai, whereas the likes of Julien Bennetau and Gilles Simon have put their name in the mix for a potential start in the indoor hard court arena next month. Also not to forget other possible starters including Richard Gasquet, who’s had an ailing back injury for the majority of 2014, but was ever-present in their last tie against the Czech Republic.
Gilles Simon has beaten Roger Federer a couple of times in his career and as recently as this week in Shanghai he has a win over Stan Wawrinka leading into the Davis Cup. The same can be said for Julien Bennetau, who got the better of the Swiss #2 in the Masters 1000 event in Cincinnnati earlier this year.
In retrospect it’s hard to see France starting anyone other than Gasquet, Tsonga and Monfils for the coveted positions representing their country, but can it be argued that Bennetau and Simon deserve some reward for their individual success against the Swiss these past few months? Switzerland’s team is fairly common knowledge to the opposition with Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka all but confirmed for the scheduled final, but it’ll be problematic for French Davis Cup Captain Arnaud Clement, who could face heavy criticism judged solely on who he selects for the Davis Cup final next month.
When analyzing Wawrinka’s year as a whole there are many factors that earmark that Richard Gasquet would be the perfect suit singularly for the Wawrinka rubber and that is Stan Wawrinka’s record against one handed backhanders this year. His losses include a defeat to one handed Andrei Golubev of Kazakhstan in Davis Cup, fluorescent prodigy Dominic Thiem in Madrid, Tommy Haas in Rome and lastly Guillermo Garcia Lopez in that dreadful shocker of a match in Roland Garros first round. Sending shockwaves through the tennis world these matches of importance have really defined Stan’s dismal year to a degree. So can Richard Gasquet be the fifth player possessing a one handed backhand who puts Wawrinka to the sword? One area of rationalization Arnaud Clement has to factor ahead of his selection. Furthermore Gasquet can play on an indoor clay court as it provides less of a deciding element of the wind, where he naturally plays better when the weather doesn’t differentiate the spin and bounce of the ball.
Another player who would revel the conditions in an indoor set up is Gilles Simon, already having won a couple of titles on indoor extravaganza’s in Metz and he’s also finished in the semi-final of the indoor courts of Paris, Bercy. In addition to this Gilles has won many of his titles on a clay court and not deferring from his close match with Federer on clay in Roland Garros last year, so he knows how to run Federer tough on a given day.
Extensive analysis of who to pick has to factor in the number of sets featuring in a Davis Cup tie, A player with the explosiveness of Tsonga may be prioritized in the Best of 3 format but it can be strategically argued a player with the nifty footwork and expressiveness of counter punching in Gilles Simon could be the answer to the French’s prayers. If you take the Best of Five format into account and Gilles Simon and a healthy Gael Monfils, who have experienced the peaks and troughs in a tennis match time after time.
If I was in Clement’s position, I’d strongly consider using Gael Monfils in the first rubber against Federer and Gasquet in the second with Stan Wawrinka and perhaps interchange in the proceeding ties giving Simon a chance in the reverse rubber. Tsonga’s game style matches more with a indoor or outdoor hard, although exceptionally improved in the last 24 months as a clay court player he’s still far and inbetween the level the likes of Simon, Gasquet and Monfils can produce on the red stuff. The Gasquet v Wawrinka match at Roland Garros in 2013 could prove to be the difference maker in whether Richard gets his place in the starting line up- in a match going 8-6 in the 3rd. Wawrinka won, but that match to me showed Gasquet’s progression on a mental ground that he could withstand that sort of pressure for a sustained period of time.
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