Davis Cup Lineups: France vs. Serbia

It’s actually unreal that France has not won a Davis Cup title since 2001. This weekend will be a huge chance for this generation of Top-30 French players to get it done. They will be heavy favorites to sweep past a Serbian team that comes in without their top stars Novak Djokovic and Viktor Troicki.

Here is the lineup for each team.

Age: 32

Ranking: No. 18 (doubles No. 194)

Davis Cup Record: 18-7 singles, 6-1 doubles

Season Highlight: The powerful Frenchman won a trio of titles early in the year including Rotterdam, Lyon and Marseilles. It’s been a relative struggle since, particularly with an early loss in New York, so he hopes to shine against Serbia.

Age: 23

Ranking: No. 22 (doubles No. 338)

Davis Cup Record: 3-1 singles, 0-0 doubles

Season Highlight: Even with several veteran stars to chose from, Pouille is getting valuable Davis Cup time as he develops into an elite player. He won Stuttgart on grass and Budapest on hard, but he’s an even better on clay, which France has chosen as the surface for the tie.

Age: 25

Ranking: Doubles No. 8 (Singles No. 66)

Davis Cup Record: 0-1 singles, 2-1 doubles

Season Highlight: He and partner Nicolas Mahut swept the North American ATP Masters 1000 doubles tournaments at Montreal and Cincinnati. Throw in their Rome title and it’s been a great year.

Age: 35

Ranking: Doubles No. 5 (singles No. 105)

Davis Cup Record: 1-1 singles, 4-2 doubles

Season Highlight: Mahut has transitioned from a gritty singles player to a great doubles champion with his net skills and experience. Along with his successful title wins with Herbert, he won another doubles title with Julien Benneteau in Marseille.

Age: 27

Ranking: No. 80 (doubles No. 279)

Davis Cup Record: 7-5 singles, 0-0 doubles

Season Highlight: He got to the fourth round at Indian Wells and had the unlucky honor of losing first-set tiebreakers to eventual champions Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at, respectively, Wimbledon and the US Open.

Age: 22

Ranking: No. 95 (doubles No. 1291)

Davis Cup Record: 0-0 singles, 0-0 doubles

Season Highlight: He has talent to compete with the best, but lack the experience. The young Serbian defeated Viktor Troicki and Fernando Verdasco to reach the Budapest semifinals in April.

Age: 21

Ranking: No. 111 (doubles No. 813)

Davis Cup Record: 4-2 singles, 0-2 doubles

Season Highlight: He has ATP Challenger events victories over Guido Pella, Taro Daniel and Joao Souza on clay.

Age: 41

Ranking: Doubles No. 39 (NR singles)

Davis Cup Record: 13-11 singles, 30-18 doubles

Season Highlight: The 41-year-old is a warrior when it comes to Davis Cup action with his record stretching back to 1995. He chalked up a win in July against Filip Duda of the Czech Republic, and will serve as captain in the semifinal.

This looks like a lopsided semifinal with France’s home advantage, depth, experience and star power against a surprising but shorthanded Serbian team. Any win from Serbia's side will be a surprise.

Prediction: France is a strong favorite to win, and could even take all five of the rubbers.