“A shock to the system was needed”: Moretton and Simon defend Monfils’ appointment as France captain

When was the last time there was such a forest of microphones for news about the France Davis Cup team? Probably not since the old format and the 2017 title. The surprise appointment of Gael Monfils as France Davis Cup captain led Gilles Moretton and Gilles Simon to defend the choice on Saturday in front of the reporters covering the Rolex Paris Masters, including Tennis Majors.

There were no juicy details on how the choice was made. The president of the French Tennis Federation (FFT) presented the decision as a collective one. According to him, it came from “about ten people,” including Simon, who is in charge of high performance, after “a disappointment in (the current performances in) the Davis Cup.” “Paul-Henri Mathieu was remarkable, but the results were never there,” he said.

“To win the Davis Cup, you need two things: the best players have to play, and you have to overperform. That’s not what we’ve done lately.”

Gilles Moretton

Asked about a recent meeting with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Lyon that reportedly failed to produce an agreement, Moretton declined to go into detail. “I don’t have to tell you who I met,” he said. “We saw a lot of people, we did the analysis we had to do, and the choice of Gael Monfils was unanimous.”

Gilles Simon acknowledged that Monfils’ profile may have surprised some. “But honestly, when you think about it, if you want to bring a huge wave of freshness and shine a huge spotlight on the Davis Cup, I think it will bring a lot.”

On whether Monfils can lead a group, Moretton said people in his team “know the man perfectly.” “Collectively, we felt he was someone who could meet exactly what a France team needs and create a shock to the system,” he explained. “The goal is the Olympic cycle leading to Los Angeles 2028, plus two years of Davis Cup.”

Monfils was a candidate, like others, the FFT president added. “Gael is someone who needs to work in an environment of trust,” he said. “I think he trusts me and the Federation’s leadership, but also the high-performance team: Gilles Simon, Richard Gasquet, Alize Cornet. That mattered to him.”

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Monfils, who said goodbye to the tour in Paris this week, had considered a career change in banking, in Switzerland. Asked whether that was compatible with the captaincy, Simon brushed the doubts aside. “It’s not as if he left the tour a long time ago,” he said. “He knows absolutely every player, the foreign ones and obviously ours. Will he be up to date? Of course he will. I think this is something that mattered to him more than you can imagine.”

For his friend, Monfils’ record in the blue shirt speaks for itself. The new captain notably beat David Ferrer in the quarter-finals in 2010 and Roger Federer in the final in Lille in 2014.

“He performed in the Davis Cup at a level I didn’t see any other player of my generation reach. People tend to forget all that.”

Gilles Simon

Like Moretton, Simon was careful with Mathieu. “Polo did a good job as captain, there wasn’t much to criticise him for, except the final result,” he said. “But we went all the way with that logic and we told ourselves something had to change. Gael brings a different energy, a different approach. I think he represents a magnificent change.”

How the new set-up will work, including how often the captain will be at tournaments, has not been settled yet, Simon admitted. Named alongside Richard Gasquet in the FFT statement, he did not want to “talk about organisation charts.” “For someone like Gael, the people around him are very important,” he stressed. “He needs to know we’re there around him, whether we’re in the organisation chart or not.”

“A huge wave of freshness”

A close friend of Monfils, Simon refused to take credit for a choice that nonetheless looks like him. “You overestimate my importance,” he replied. “My job is to bring as many candidates as possible to the table and make proposals. Then we make the decisions all together.”

Asked whether the appointment could bring Arthur Fils back into the team, Simon remained cautious. “Players make their own decisions,” he said. “But a new cycle is starting, with the Olympics in 2028. We know Gael brings people together and that the whole locker room adores him. If it can motivate some of them to come, even for him, that will be good for everyone.”