Monfils named Davis Cup captain

Gaël Monfils is the new captain of France's Davis Cup team. The French federation (FFT) announced it in a statement today, Saturday, November 7, four days after the farewell ceremony the Rolex Paris Masters held for him on Tuesday evening. The 40-year-old, who spent 22 years as a professional, takes over from Paul-Henri Mathieu, captain for the past three years.

Monfils won't be working alone. He will be joined by Gilles Simon, now the FFT's director of high performance, and Richard Gasquet.

"It's an immense source of pride to become captain of the French team. This blue jersey means so much to me,"

said Monfils, who wants to build a collective project.

Federation president Gilles Moretton thanked Mathieu for bringing Les Bleus back to the Final 8 and cited the new captain's "communicative energy" and enthusiasm.

The team Monfils inherits is coming off a disappointment. On September 18 and 19, at the Centre Vidéotron in Québec City, Canada beat France 3-1 in the second round of qualifiers. The deciding point came from Félix Auger-Aliassime, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 over Arthur Rinderknech, and at the end of November the Final 8 in Bologna will be played without the French.