2023-11-17 15:17:18
There were many candidates, it was ultimately Paul-Henri Mathieu who was chosen. After a series of interviews carried out during the Rolex Paris Masters, won by Novak Djokovic on November 5, the French Tennis Federation and its president Gilles Moretton have set their sights on the former 12th player in the world, who had previously already held the position of high-level director at the FFT.
Some big names remain on the sidelines. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was notably one of the fifteen contenders but the Manceau, who had been able to count on the support of Ugo Humbert, was ultimately not selected. Majority shareholder of several tournaments and head of a representation agency, which notably manages Humbert’s interests, Tsonga undoubtedly paid for these conflicts of interest.
Gilles Simon, Marion Bartoli, Julien Benneteau, Michaël Llodra, Fabrice Santoro and Henri Leconte were also candidates, but it is Paul-Henri Mathieu who is the lucky one. Winner of four tournaments during his career, which ended in 2017, the Frenchman succeeds Sébastien Grosjean, who left to coach Arthur Fils. The association between the two men began during this last Masters 1000 of the season, forcing the former 4th in the world to leave his post after four years.
Now officially appointed, Paul-Henri Mathieu, who also becomes responsible for the men’s delegation for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, will take his place for the first time on the bench of the French Davis Cup team during the qualifying matches for the phase groups next February. This year, the Blues lost during this same phase after defeats against Australia and Great Britain. To reach this stage of the competition, they had defeated Hungary. Arthur Fils notably played his first matches in the jersey of the France team.
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