Tsonga on Monfils captaincy: “I was never really a candidate”

November 10, 2026

The former world No. 5 posted a video on Instagram to back his friend as France’s new Davis Cup captain and to end the talk about his own candidacy. He revealed he had told FFT president Gilles Moretton to warn him well in advance if he ever thought of him for the job.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Rolex Paris Masters 2026 | © Ch. Caillaud / PsNewz

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga wants to close the debate. Two days after the French Tennis Federation (FFT) named Gael Monfils France Davis Cup captain, the former world No. 5 posted a video of more than five minutes on Instagram on Sunday to back his friend and deny he had ever been in the running.

“People need to stop going off into crazy controversies,” Tsonga said in French. “I’m super happy for my friend Gael. I’m not saying that what was done before wasn’t good quality, but I think he’s the right person today to bring the players together and bring back perhaps even greater enthusiasm among the best French players.”

“I wasn’t approached”

Tsonga’s name had circulated to succeed Paul-Henri Mathieu. On Saturday, FFT president Gilles Moretton declined to comment on a reported meeting with him in Lyon.

“As for me, I was never really a candidate. In any case, I wasn’t approached by the Federation to be one.”
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

He said the confusion came from questions he had answered in the media. “Journalists came to me asking: ‘Would you like to be Davis Cup captain?’ The thing is, you can’t say no, you have to say yes,” he explained. “Because in the future, it’s a job that could interest me. But all of a sudden, you become a candidate when you haven’t talked to anyone. Nothing was offered to you, no mission.”

“There are always people who are disappointed,” he added. “I’m not one of them, because I wasn’t a candidate.”

What he told Moretton

Tsonga did reveal that he had discussed the idea with Moretton, when the FFT president visited the Grand Prix Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and his academy in Décines, near Lyon.

“I had simply mentioned to him that if one day he thought of me, he would have to tell me well in advance, because I have quite a lot of professional activities and I also have my family life,” he said. “For a job like that, I don’t think you should take it lightly. It takes time, and it has to be a serious project that requires some thought.”

He also suggested the FFT had learned from the previous appointment process. “I think they made their choice, and unlike last time, I think they told themselves they weren’t going to shortlist 10 and then turn down nine, which wasn’t necessarily the best idea,” he said.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the press, know that everything is clear, everything is perfect,” Tsonga concluded. “It’s important today that we restore our reputation a little, and that we put the France team and our flag back where we should be on the world tennis stage.”