Benjamin Bonzi and Ugo Humbert will play the first two singles on Friday in Hungary during Davis Cup qualifying. Nicolas Mahut and Arthur Rinderknech will be lined up in doubles on Saturday.
End of the suspense concerning the composition of the French Davis Cup team for the qualifying match in Hungary on Friday and Saturday! Captain Sébastien Grosjean has decided to retain Benjamin Bonzi and Ugo Humbert in singles, and Nicolas Mahut and Arthur Rinderknech in doubles. On the hard court of Tatabánya, a city located between Budapest and Györ, it is the highest ranked French player at the ATP, Benjamin Bonzi, who will have the honor of opening the debates, from 2:00 p.m., against Zsombor Piros. Finalist of the ATP tournament in Pune, then qualified for the first time in his career for a third round in the Grand Slam (with a victory over world No. 15 Pablo Carreno Busta in particular)the 26-year-old Gardois, 45th in the world this week, will start as the favorite against Piros, 182nd in the world at 23, who never really confirmed after his title at the Junior Australian Open in 2017. The two players have never faced each other before.
Great first for Humbert
In the process, it is Ugo Humbert and Marton Fucsovics who will enter the court, for a more balanced match on paper. The 24-year-old Messin, 86th in the world, will honor his first selection, he who was only called up at the start of the week as the fifth man, thanks to his good results at the start of the season (third round at the Open from Australia). His opponent is ranked 71st in the world, and was also eliminated in the third round in Melbourne, after winning the Camberra Challenger (beating players ranked above 130th in the world) to start the year. Humbert beat Fucsovics in their only meeting, on the lawn of Stuttgart in 2021 (6-3, 6-1). But the context will be quite different. If France leads 2-0 on Friday evening, Nicolas Mahut and Arthur Rinderknech will have the opportunity to conclude in doubles Saturday from noon, against the pair Fabian Marozsan-Mate Valkusz, respectively ranked 485th and 1519th in the world in the discipline. The possible fourth and fifth games will oppose Fucsovics to Bonzi (0-0 in the confrontations) then Piros to Humbert (0-0), unless the captains decide to make changes. The winner of this meeting between Hungary and Croatia will qualify for the group stage, which will be held in mid-September.
