Paul-Henri Mathieu, former 12th player in the world, has been named captain of the French Davis Cup team. It is therefore he who will lead the blue delegation to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The names of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gilles Simon had been mentioned.
Former tennis player Paul-Henri Mathieu has been named captain of the French Davis Cup team and head of the men’s delegation to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the French Tennis Federation (FFT) announced on Friday.
Retired from the ATP circuit since 2017, the former world number 12, 41 years old and high level director at the FFT, succeeds Sébastien Grosjean who left his position in October to train the young French hopeful Arthur Fils (36th in the world) .
“A very good knowledge of current tennis”
“I am very proud, honored and moved also to have been chosen for this position today” among other “more than legitimate” candidates, declared Paul-Henri Mathieu during a press conference organized by the FFT . “Paul-Henri Mathieu is a great professional, his determination is incredible and he has a very good knowledge of current tennis,” said the co-responsible for high level within the FFT Ivan Ljubicic, seeing in this new captain a candidate “Perfect”.
While the names of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gilles Simon had also been mentioned to replace Sébastien Grosjean, the president of the FFT Gilles Moretton affirmed in the Federation press release that Paul-Henri Mathieu “checks all these boxes for this position strategic and that this choice is part of the continuity of its efforts deployed in recent years within the Federation in matters of high level”.