Benneteau after France's relegation from the BJK Cup: "My four players gave their all".
After losing to Colombia in the play-off, France will play in the second division of the Billie Jean King Cup next year.
A historic setback, since the French BJK Cup team had not been relegated from the world group since 2011.
Faced with this worrying rout, Julien Benneteau expressed his dismay: "The result is very tough. It was a tiring weekend. There's a lot of sadness and disappointment at finding ourselves in the second group."
The French team captain also acknowledged the Colombians' superiority over the weekend as a whole: "We knew it was a tricky match because of the conditions.
Playing at this time of year on clay at an altitude of 2,600 metres is complicated.
What I said to the girls was that there was nothing to reproach them for in terms of their commitment and their state of mind. My four players gave their all, but it wasn't enough.
The Colombians were better than us. We need to draw conclusions from this and be stronger in the future."