Canada v. France – Davis Cup World Group 1st Round

Written by: Staff on 8th February 2012

Canada v. France - Davis Cup World Group 1st Round

Gael Monfils of France reacts after won a point during the third round men's singles match against Gael Monfils of France at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 21 January 2012. EPA/AHMAD YUSNI |

CANADA v FRANCE – Vancouver, CAN – hard (indoors)

Head-to-head: France lead 1-0

CANADA v FRANCE

14 Current DC Nations Ranking 4

Semifinals 1913 Best Result Champion (9 times)

1913 First Year Played 1904

83 Years Played (inc 2012) 93

4 Years in World Group (inc 2012) 30

139 Ties Played 237

58-81 Ties Win-Loss 154-83

1 Comebacks from 0-2 down 3

• CANADA are making their first appearance in the World Group since 2004.

• Last year, Canada came through Americas Zone Group I and then defeated Israel 3-2 in the World Group play-offs in Ramat Hasharon to earn their place in the World Group.

• Canada are bidding to win their first World Group tie, having lost in the first round on their 3 previous appearances in the World Group, in 1991 (l. Spain), 1992 (l. Sweden) and 2004 (l. Netherlands).

• Milos Raonic is the highest-ranked Canadian man in the history of the ATP World Tour Rankings. He reached a career-high ranking of No. 25 in May 2011.

• If Canada win this weekend, they will have another home tie in the quarterfinals against the winner of the Switzerland v USA tie.

• Canada go into this weekend’s tie on a nation-best ranking of No. 14 in the ITF Davis Cup Nations Ranking, held since September 2011.

• FRANCE are making their 14th consecutive World Group appearance.

• Last year, France reached the semifinals for the second consecutive year. They defeated Austria 3-2 in the first round in Vienna and Germany 4-1 in the quarterfinals in Stuttgart.

• This is France’s 5th consecutive away tie. They have won 3 of their last 5 away ties in the competition.

• The French have only lost in the World Group first round once in the last 10 years. In 2009, they were defeated 3-2 by Czech Republic.

• France have been crowned Davis Cup champion 9 times and are joint-third (with Great Britain) on the list of all-time champions, behind USA and Australia. They have also reached the final a further 6 times. Their last title win came in 2001 when they defeated Australia 3-2 on grass in Melbourne.

• Only France and USA have won a Davis Cup Final on all four surfaces (grass, clay, hard and carpet).

• France are one of 5 nations to have held the No. 1 ranking, alongside Australia, Croatia, Russia and Spain. France held the top spot between February 2002 and September 2003 and again from April 2004 to July 2004. The Davis Cup Nations Ranking was introduced in 2001 and is updated after each round.

• France have only twice been absent from the World Group since its inception in 1981. Their 30 years in the World Group is second only to Czech Republic, Sweden and USA, who have competed in the World Group for 31 of the 32 years.

• If France win this weekend, they will have a home quarterfinal against the winner of the Switzerland v USA tie.