Monfils to captain France at Davis Cup

Frenchman bids farewells to tennis as a player earlier this week

PARIS:

A month after bidding farewell to tennis as a player, Gael Monfils has joined France's Davis ​Cup team as their captain, the French Tennis ‌Federation (FFT) announced on Saturday.

Former world number six Monfils officially retired last month after bowing out in the US Open's second round ​in September, ending a 22-year professional career that ​included two Grand Slam semi-final appearances.

But Monfils is ⁠set to be at the courtside when France begin ​their Davis Cup qualifying campaign in February, after he ​took over the captaincy from Paul-Henri Mathieu, who led them to the quarter-finals last year.

“I am immensely proud to become captain ​of the French team. This blue jersey means ​so much to me,” Monfils said in a statement.

The 40-year-old represented ‌France ⁠in eight editions of the Davis Cup, and won 12 of his 15 singles matches. He delivered one of his best performances in the 2014 final, beating ​Roger Federer in ​straight sets, ⁠although France lost the tie to Switzerland.

Monfils was not in the team when ​France won their 10th Davis Cup title ​in 2017, ⁠but said he was keen to add to their trophy cabinet as captain, a non-playing role.

"I want to ⁠build ​a genuine team-based project and create ​the momentum that will enable us to win titles together," he added.