A first day perfect for the Blues during the 2nd round of the Davis Cup qualifications. They lead 2-0 thanks to Corentin Moutet and Arthur Arthur Rinderknech.
Moutet, 39th in the world but a novice in the Davis Cup, succeeded in his debut but in suffering. He brought the first point to France by beating young Dino Prizmic 6-4, 5-7, 6-1. On an atypical surface, the clay indoor, which had smiled at Croatia during the 2018 final, and in front of a sparse but volcanic Croatian audience, the no less boiling Corentin Moutet put France on the right track for its first selection.
The 26 -year -old Frenchman, who lives the best season of his career, had to work to beat in 3:17 am the promising Dino Prizmic, 20, passed this year from the 400th to 119th place at ATP. After the start of a very hung meeting (4-4), Moutet managed to break and then pocket the first round 6-4 on an ACE before losing the second round where the Parisian had however had three break balls.
The Parisian resumed in the third set thanks to a double entrance station wagon, before unrolling taking advantage of the many Croatian faults to conclude 6-1.
Right after, Arthur Rinderknech (57th), recent eighth-de-finalist of the US Open, was played out of the experienced Marin Cilic (60th), 36, winner of the event in 2018, already against France.
Rinderknech delivered a solid and expeditious service to win in two dry rounds (6-2, 6-4) in just 1h26 of play.
An ideal scenario for the men of Paul-Henri Mathieu, who find themselves in a position of force. If Benjamin Bonzi and Pierre-Hughes Herbert won in the double Saturday, France will already validate its ticket for the Final 8, without waiting for the single Sunday.
