Tennis

France's Davis Cup semi to be played on hard court

2018-05-04 22:58

Paris - The Davis Cup semi-final between holders France and Spain in September will be played on an indoor hard court at Lille's Stade Pierre-Mauroy, the French tennis federation (FFT) announced on Friday.

After the 2014 final loss to Switzerland and last year's victories over Serbia and Belgium in the last four and final respectively, it will be the fourth time that Lille's football stadium has been used by the Davis Cup side.

"In accordance with the choice of France captain Yannick Noah, the matches will be held on hard courts with the roof closed," the FFT said in a statement.

The decision to play on a hard court appears to be an attempt to minimise the threat of Spain's clay-court specialists, including world number one Rafael Nadal, who played a starring role in his country's quarter-final win over Germany last month.

The tie will take place from September 14-16, as France look to become the first team to successfully defend the title since the Czech Republic in 2013.

Read more on:    davis cup  |  tennis
NEXT ON SPORT24X

What To Read Next

 

Read News24’s Comments Policy

Men
Women
Love 2 Meet
English Premiership flutter

Take Sport24's "expert" tips at your peril...

Sport24 on Twitter

Follow Sport24 news on Twitter

Featured

The 2017/18 Absa Premiership season is under way. Can Bidvest Wits defend their title? Will Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs or Orlando Pirates emerge victorious? Or will the bookies' favourites, Mamelodi Sundowns, taste success for a record eighth time? Stay glued to Sport24 to find out!

Latest blogs
Vote

Which is your favourite Grand Slam of the year?

Twitter Follow Sport24 on Twitter

Facebook "Like" Sport24's Facebook page

WIN Enter and win with Sport24!

BlackBerry Stay in the loop on your BlackBerry

RSS Feeds Sport news delivered really simply.

 
There are new stories on the homepage. Click here to see them.