"These are tough matches to go after," Mathieu warns his players before the Davis Cup duel against Croatia
On Sunday afternoon, the French team arrived in Osijek to fine-tune their preparation for their Davis Cup qualifying match in Croatia, which will be played on indoor clay.
Facing the nation of Marin Cilic, France will seek to secure their ticket to the Final 8 in Bologna in November. Meanwhile, captain Paul-Henri Mathieu, who has called up Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, Benjamin Bonzi, Arthur Rinderknech, Corentin Moutet, and Pierre-Hugues Herbert, gave an interview to L'Équipe three days before the first matches.
"It's my role to try to have that connection with the players, to make them understand that everyone has their place on the team, precisely to maintain the collective mindset when we have to make changes.
We're fortunate in France to have a good pool of players. They are all capable of performing well under pressure. I know that each one of them will give 400% if they are on the court, and for me, that's the most important thing.
Those who won't play are well aware that their role is just as important as the guy on the court. The new format, with this hybrid system of two rounds 'home and away,' is already better than the previous one. Well, here we're playing away, which isn't ideal. But that's the charm of the Davis Cup.
These are tough matches to go after. They are exciting challenges. The surface? It's a carpet with clay on top, apparently the same court as the one used in Stuttgart for the WTA tournament.
We're not necessarily used to playing on this kind of surface. But neither are the Croatians! The floor is a bit soft, it doesn't make the same noise as real clay. It's more 'soft.' We'll have to see after several days of use whether the court shifts or not.
It's a mix between clay and indoor, I'd say. With indoor characteristics like the roof and the floor, and the slippery aspect of clay. But it bounces less than clay, necessarily," Mathieu stated.
