Quarter-Finals - France v Great Britain: Day 1

:00:37. > :00:43.Good afternoon, welcome to Rouen, the capital of the Northern region

:00:44. > :00:46.of Normandy. It is a 90 minute Drive from Paris. We are here for the

:00:47. > :00:49.Davis Cup quarterfinals, Britain taking on France. The opening

:00:50. > :00:52.ceremony has taken place and we are ready for the first of the singles

:00:53. > :01:00.matches, has Kyle Edmund takes on the French number one, Lucas

:01:01. > :01:05.Pouille. They are making their presence felt. Two former players

:01:06. > :01:09.that know all about the atmosphere, Jamie Baker and John Lloyd. In the

:01:10. > :01:13.build-up to this, the talk was more about who was missing, rather than

:01:14. > :01:21.who was playing? I know, you think about the French team, no Gasquet,

:01:22. > :01:24.no Gael Monfils, Simon dropped for Chardy. On this surface, the

:01:25. > :01:27.favourites are still favourites after missing all of those players,

:01:28. > :01:33.it is amazing, the depth that they have. Britain, without Andy Murray,

:01:34. > :01:39.as expected. He has had injuries and a virus? We sort of expected that.

:01:40. > :01:43.He had a rough start to the year, after his heroics last year. The

:01:44. > :01:49.elbow injury, always serious. It was wise for him to rest. It makes it

:01:50. > :01:53.more interesting, with all of the pull-outs. Now it is much more even,

:01:54. > :01:58.although the French are still favourites. If we look at the teams,

:01:59. > :02:04.Lucas Pouille had such a great year in 2016. Ranked number 17 in the

:02:05. > :02:07.world. Only 23 years of age? As you said, last year was the

:02:08. > :02:10.breakthrough, getting to the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, and the

:02:11. > :02:14.US Open. He had an amazing win in New York against a Rafa Nadal. He

:02:15. > :02:21.will be a favourite today against Kyle. A strong doubles team, as far

:02:22. > :02:28.as Mahut and Benneteau go. The British team, Kyle loves the clay

:02:29. > :02:31.courts, Dan Evans not so much. The two singles matches today, the

:02:32. > :02:35.doubles tomorrow. We know those pairings will not change. Then the

:02:36. > :02:39.reverse singles matches on Sunday. It is not a surface that he

:02:40. > :02:45.particularly likes, but Kyle loves that? He does. It is not done's

:02:46. > :02:51.favoured. It was a shrewd move to talk to Tim Henman about his

:02:52. > :02:56.experiences on clay. He served and volleyed, he chipped and charged, he

:02:57. > :03:00.was such a great player. The year he got the semifinals, 2004, he came in

:03:01. > :03:05.a loss. What they have been saying to Dan Evans is, don't change your

:03:06. > :03:09.game totally when you come on clay. That is the tendency that players

:03:10. > :03:14.do. They think, it is clay, I have to stay back. They lose a lot of

:03:15. > :03:18.their natural being to come into the net. I think he has to play his

:03:19. > :03:22.aggressive style, modify it a little bit, but take changes. He will not

:03:23. > :03:26.win standing on the back of the court. He will be taking on Jeremy

:03:27. > :03:31.Chardy, that will be interesting. A big hitter, big serve, big forehand.

:03:32. > :03:35.Fun to watch. This match, Edmund against Pouille, it will be greater

:03:36. > :03:40.shotmaking as well? Pouille plays with a lot of flair. A player

:03:41. > :03:44.playing in the Davis Cup, the crowd getting in and being behind him, I

:03:45. > :03:49.think he is a really good player. Edmund beat Lucas Pouille earlier

:03:50. > :03:52.this year in Brisbane, 6-3, 6-1. I know it was the first match of the

:03:53. > :03:55.year and made you cannot look into it too much, but when a player is

:03:56. > :03:58.beaten by that scoreline error something in the game that he feels

:03:59. > :04:08.uncomfortable with. I think he wasn't well, he retired. He was not

:04:09. > :04:11.so good. Kyle Edmund has proved he is not just good in tournaments, but

:04:12. > :04:15.he loves the Davis Cup atmosphere? He has proved he can play well in

:04:16. > :04:20.big matches in the Davis Cup. This will be a big test, Lucas Pouille is

:04:21. > :04:23.the best player in the tie, the way he plays, his flair, the way he had

:04:24. > :04:27.such a great year last year. But Kyle Edmund is tough on clay, he can

:04:28. > :04:33.get his big forehand working. It gives him more time to manoeuvre on

:04:34. > :04:38.his ground strokes. It is going to be a big test, but I think he has a

:04:39. > :04:43.decent shot. Absolutely. Let's look ahead to this match. We will hear

:04:44. > :05:01.from the British captain and the two players as well.

:05:02. > :05:06.No doubt this weekend, there will be some tough moments. As a team, we

:05:07. > :05:11.have to really pull through and dig deep. If that happens over the

:05:12. > :05:14.course of every Davis Cup weekend, there are tough moments you have to

:05:15. > :05:18.come through. It is about using those moments to drive you forward.

:05:19. > :05:22.You open the tie against Lucas Pouille, then number one. What will

:05:23. > :05:27.you make of him? A decent rise in the last 12 months? He is top 20 for

:05:28. > :05:31.a reason. Great end of season last year. Pretty much from the middle of

:05:32. > :05:35.the year until the end of the year, he did really well. It will be a

:05:36. > :05:38.tough match. I played him in Brisbane and you just get a feel for

:05:39. > :05:43.the ball against him. I think that is something I can take out of that.

:05:44. > :05:48.How does it feel to be the number one player, leading your nation in a

:05:49. > :05:55.Davis Cup quarterfinal? It is quite a response ability? It is, as always

:05:56. > :06:01.I am very honoured and proud to be in this team and represent my

:06:02. > :06:06.country. I try to leave my team as well as possible. Kyle, on the clay

:06:07. > :06:18.court, is very dangerous. He plays well on it. You will have watched

:06:19. > :06:22.his sets against Goffan in that final, and in Serbia he did a great

:06:23. > :06:29.job. It's a surface that he thrives on. It is one that the players are

:06:30. > :06:36.ready for, to go out and fight for. It comes at a good time of year. The

:06:37. > :06:41.guys need to be on clay at this time of year. Even though the focus is on

:06:42. > :06:45.winning this, it will set them up for what happens next.

:06:46. > :06:52.It is an interesting time of year. Dan Evans, as we have seen at the

:06:53. > :06:56.Australian Open, he is capable of bringing big upsets. You get the

:06:57. > :07:00.feeling that the pressure is on Kyle. Although he is much lower

:07:01. > :07:04.ranked, it is sort of a must win match for the British team? Yes,

:07:05. > :07:08.although he is not the favourite on paper, when you look at the

:07:09. > :07:12.matchups, I think Britain need to be 2-1 ahead going into Sunday if we

:07:13. > :07:17.are going to have a chance. That would be Dan Evans against possibly

:07:18. > :07:22.the best player on a clay court, Lucas Pouille. There is pressure,

:07:23. > :07:26.but it is his best service. He played on a clay court in a final a

:07:27. > :07:29.few years ago. I agree with what John was saying, he can give Lucas

:07:30. > :07:33.Pouille a good run for his money. The crowd will play a factor. We

:07:34. > :07:38.have seen in the past, if Pouille does not play well they can get onto

:07:39. > :07:41.their players? The French crowd, I know they support their team

:07:42. > :07:44.brilliantly, but they also know if their player is not playing well,

:07:45. > :07:48.they are such good players themselves, they know when that is

:07:49. > :07:53.happening. John has made his way to the commentary box. He is alongside

:07:54. > :08:02.Jonathan. Good afternoon. This could be interesting? Terrific atmosphere

:08:03. > :08:08.inside the Rouen Sports Palace. A fantastic weekend of tennis ahead,

:08:09. > :08:12.hopefully, on the clay. Fantastic noise being generated by both sets

:08:13. > :08:18.of supporters. British fans on both sides of the arena, rather than just

:08:19. > :08:24.in one pocket. Another big Davis Cup challenge for this man, Kyle Edmund.

:08:25. > :10:08.His debut was in the final of 2015. Davis Cup champion.

:10:09. > :10:14.What a confident first service game from Kyle Edmund but was. He has

:10:15. > :10:21.been in really good nick in practice, in Rouen.

:10:22. > :10:26.Very confident, very at home on this surface. That is what he will look

:10:27. > :10:31.to do through this match and the weekend, dictate with that big

:10:32. > :10:36.forehand, John? Yes, lovely shot. Just gets more time on the clay. He

:10:37. > :10:41.plays on grass, faster services Limato surfaces, sometimes you get

:10:42. > :10:45.late on the ball, the backswing can be on the forehand side. Movement

:10:46. > :10:47.sometimes gets a bit rushed. On clay, when he has time to set up

:10:48. > :12:12.points, it is his best surface. Big occasion for Lucas Pouille. 17

:12:13. > :12:13.in the world. Really has risen spectacularly in the last 12 months

:12:14. > :12:32.or so. This is a big challenge for him.

:12:33. > :12:36.Only his third call-up for the Davis Cup by his nation. He is looking to

:12:37. > :12:55.lead the team here, he is the number one player.

:12:56. > :13:04.You are right, with Pouille, this is a natural progression of his game,

:13:05. > :13:07.rising up the rankings. Just getting into the French team is hard enough,

:13:08. > :13:09.but he is leading the team and it is a big step up. He is expected to win

:13:10. > :14:21.both singles in this tie, not easy. He really sprung to people's tension

:14:22. > :14:26.at Wimbledon last summer. Fantastic run to the quarterfinals, hadn't

:14:27. > :14:32.previously won a match on grass. Factors about the US Open, beat Rafa

:14:33. > :14:39.Nadal. -- backed it up at the US Open, beat Rafa Nadal.

:14:40. > :14:48.This is the sort of company Young Kyle Edmund is now keeping. 47 in

:14:49. > :14:49.the world now. We'll be at the biggest tournaments, week in, week

:14:50. > :15:06.out. Kyle Edmund saying to the umpire,

:15:07. > :15:23.don't bother looking at the mark, I will take the second serve.

:15:24. > :15:29.Well, that is the best shot of this very early match so far. But he

:15:30. > :15:36.won't play many better than this. A sliced forehand. Look at the

:15:37. > :15:41.backspin on that shot. This was totally unexpected. That is the sort

:15:42. > :15:47.of flair that he possesses. A shotmaker. Good to watch.

:15:48. > :16:32.Pouille just not able to get that ball deep enough in the baseline.

:16:33. > :16:35.Kyle Edmund will like these kind of rallies, around mid-court, so he can

:16:36. > :16:37.get round and smack that big forehand. Either side, he can go.

:16:38. > :16:47.It's such a big weapon. The umpire is off again. Kyle is

:16:48. > :17:02.saying it is not necessary. Didn't want to lose his rhythm and

:17:03. > :17:21.have to wait, he knew that it was out.

:17:22. > :17:24.Three very interesting calls from the nervous line officials early in

:17:25. > :17:58.this match. Just a little rattled ahead of that

:17:59. > :17:59.break point. Frustrated by the erratic line calling in the early

:18:00. > :18:03.stages. Mentally, he is tough. Able to focus

:18:04. > :18:37.well. So, France strike first. There is

:18:38. > :18:41.Yannick Noah, the captain. What a player he was. 1983 Roland Garros

:18:42. > :18:47.champion. Twice a winner of the Davis Cup before as captain, in the

:18:48. > :18:56.1990s. This is his third spell as French captain.

:18:57. > :19:03.A rematch, this, their quarterfinal two years ago on the grass of

:19:04. > :19:12.Queen's Club. The nature of the Davis Cup is that you play the next

:19:13. > :19:15.time you meet, in the opposing nation's territory. Last time it was

:19:16. > :19:22.in London, this time we are in Rouen.

:19:23. > :19:45.Kyle Edmund saying, don't come onto the court unless I want you to, in

:19:46. > :20:06.those calls. Throws his rhythm of a little bit. Double fault, there.

:20:07. > :21:47.Jamie Murray, Dominic Inglot, the doubles team for England tomorrow.

:21:48. > :22:42.Marvellous forehand, a passing shot from a long way behind the baseline.

:22:43. > :22:49.He's got the break back at the first opportunity! Again, dominating with

:22:50. > :23:07.the forehand. Kyle Edmund, good work. Levels the first set, 2-2.

:23:08. > :23:14.Promising early signs, John? From a neutral point of view it could turn

:23:15. > :23:17.into a very entertaining match. Definitely, good tennis from both

:23:18. > :23:44.players. They have both settled in well.

:23:45. > :23:55.They did play earlier this year in Brisbane, on the hard court out in

:23:56. > :23:56.Australia. Edmund was winning 6-3, 6-1, when Pouille retired from the

:23:57. > :24:12.match. Brisbane, incidentally, also hosting

:24:13. > :24:13.the Davis Cup this weekend, quarterfinals between Australia and

:24:14. > :24:43.the USA. That is really nice! That is a class

:24:44. > :24:48.from Kyle Edmund. He knew he had to hit it deeper. He could see Pouille

:24:49. > :25:06.coming to it. A glimpse in the left-hand corner of

:25:07. > :25:14.the fifth member of the British team, Cameron Norrie. He has been

:25:15. > :25:17.part of the tennis system out in the United States. He will be turning

:25:18. > :25:22.professional in May this year and will play the French Open qualifying

:25:23. > :25:26.for the first time as a pro. Great experience for him to be here. The

:25:27. > :25:32.nature of the British team is that when Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot

:25:33. > :25:36.are there, there is no real back-up in terms of a third singles player.

:25:37. > :25:39.If worst came to the worst and they had been an injury ahead of today,

:25:40. > :25:49.it would have been Cameron Norrie playing for Great Britain. What a

:25:50. > :26:13.story that would be! He's at university out in Fort Worth, Texas.

:26:14. > :26:21.The youngster has also been hitting with the British team, Jake Clark,

:26:22. > :26:26.offer to Tunisia now to play an event. Interesting to report he will

:26:27. > :27:01.be linking up with Johanna Konta's former coach, doing 22 weeks.

:27:02. > :27:06.Smith has been very impressed with the professionalism of the young

:27:07. > :27:08.members of his squad he has had in France this week. Of course, that

:27:09. > :28:51.was Kyle Edmund not long ago. Just an illustration of their of

:28:52. > :28:58.what a weapon is that Kyle Edmund possesses. One of the best players

:28:59. > :29:01.in the world at the other end, a top 20 player, that just could not

:29:02. > :29:32.handle the heat of the Edmund forehand. Too much for him.

:29:33. > :29:41.I think if Pouille decides to hit that back-end of his down the line

:29:42. > :29:45.to the Edmund forehand, to open up the court, it goes so much onto the

:29:46. > :29:49.back and side should take the forehand, sometimes just to change

:29:50. > :29:50.it up and go down the line, make some dividends after that. Hasn't

:29:51. > :32:50.done too many so far, just one. Of course, Britain would love Andy

:32:51. > :32:54.Murray to be here this weekend. He is recovering after his elbow

:32:55. > :33:00.problems. In Kyle Edmund and Dan Evans who we will see next, they are

:33:01. > :33:04.both top 50 players. Jamie Murray is an established top ten doubles

:33:05. > :33:10.player. There is a different dynamic around the team full of it is no

:33:11. > :33:14.longer Murray and the kids. No. The thought with the British team is

:33:15. > :33:20.that even without Andy Murray they are a well good team. Before, if

:33:21. > :33:27.Andy Murray did not play, we were a group one team at best. Now with the

:33:28. > :33:31.doubles team being so strong and two top 50 players, who certainly can

:33:32. > :33:39.play with a lot of teams are maybe not the number ones, but certainly

:33:40. > :33:43.can take care of the number twos from these countries and have a

:33:44. > :33:47.chance to win. Andy Murray has tremendous back-up when he does not

:33:48. > :34:08.play. It is a very strong British squad now.

:34:09. > :34:16.Martin Corrie, closest to the camera, representing the Lawn Tennis

:34:17. > :34:17.Association. On the board of the International tennis Federation as

:34:18. > :34:41.well. In the centre of the picture, David

:34:42. > :35:06.Hagerty, the fairly new president. Some big decisions to be made by Mr

:35:07. > :35:11.Hagerty and his fellow board members about the future of this

:35:12. > :35:13.competition. We love it once we are here, we love the atmosphere and the

:35:14. > :35:26.competition. Good reactions from Pouille. He was

:35:27. > :35:32.really close to the net when he played that. He was. The racket was

:35:33. > :35:38.nearly over the net. Some of the doubles players get that close. A

:35:39. > :35:56.very good half folly. That is what set him up. Quick reactions.

:35:57. > :36:10.Thinking about tweaking of the Davis Cup, it is the first time when the

:36:11. > :36:21.LTM has come in and realise there have to be changes.

:36:22. > :36:24.-- the International Tennis Federation have come in and realise

:36:25. > :36:41.there have to be changes. He has made it. That was a superb

:36:42. > :37:51.shot. He thinks it is out. Richard Bathgate is in the crowd, as

:37:52. > :37:57.is Herbert. Well played, Edmund. Richard Gasquet recovering from

:37:58. > :38:04.appendix surgery. Herbert would definitely be in the team as cover

:38:05. > :38:47.for Nicolas Mahut. Kyle Edmund is getting more and more

:38:48. > :38:52.used to competing at this level. He has played Novak Djokovic a couple

:38:53. > :39:00.of times. His Davis Cup debut in the final. Davis Cup wins under his belt

:39:01. > :39:02.now. An absolutely fabulous run to the fourth round of the U.S. Open

:39:03. > :39:17.last year. I think probably he would have hoped

:39:18. > :39:28.for a few better results at the start of the season. No doubt

:39:29. > :39:34.everything is within his grasp. A long way to go in his career. He is

:39:35. > :39:40.improving all the while. He is defending better now than he used

:39:41. > :39:45.to. We talk about a big forehand and the big serve. You have to defend

:39:46. > :39:52.well in the modern game. He is stretching wide a lot better now. At

:39:53. > :39:58.the Indian Wells this year and the US Open last year, in every area

:39:59. > :40:06.against Novak Djokovic, he said Kyle Edmund had improved.

:40:07. > :40:14.Sometimes, when you are a young player emerging on the talk, you are

:40:15. > :40:18.going to take defeats particularly against someone might Novak

:40:19. > :40:19.Djokovic. For a coach that is something that you want to watch out

:40:20. > :40:46.for. Leon Smith will be taking to Kyle

:40:47. > :40:50.Edmund -- taking Kyle Edmund to some of his tournaments as his regular

:40:51. > :41:04.coach takes a break from the tour. He has a very busy schedule planned

:41:05. > :41:24.on the clay courts. He has a tournament every week.

:41:25. > :41:28.Kyle Edmund apologises. The mis-hit went out of court. He has a

:41:29. > :42:40.promising situation here now. Trying to get the crowd going. An

:42:41. > :42:47.interesting crowd, the French, with the Davis Cup. They can be very

:42:48. > :42:54.vocal with support when their team is winning that can turn quickly if

:42:55. > :42:58.their player is losing. The French Davis Cup record, on some occasions,

:42:59. > :43:01.is better when they are away than at home. I think they feel too much

:43:02. > :43:22.pressure when they are at home. Edmund hesitated a bit. The obvious

:43:23. > :43:58.shot was a crosscourt backhand. He guided that backhand.

:43:59. > :44:04.Therein lies the problem, when you are that far back on return of

:44:05. > :44:09.serve, you cannot get the ball deep enough. It opens up the angle and

:44:10. > :44:26.the forehand of Kyle Edmund steps in.

:44:27. > :44:34.You could see his thinking. I must get depth and he makes the error.

:44:35. > :45:04.The Frenchman has not quite got that right yet.

:45:05. > :45:09.That is a dangerous sign from Pouille. He took that really early.

:45:10. > :45:49.A sweet connection down the line. He is dangerous now. That was very

:45:50. > :45:55.well played from the Frenchman. Very aggressive. Depth on his ground

:45:56. > :46:01.strokes. He is always behind. An excellent approach shot. He made the

:46:02. > :46:07.overhead look easy. That was not that easy. He moved his feet

:46:08. > :46:10.quickly. So much tennis still to be played this weekend. Already this

:46:11. > :46:18.feels like a key period in the match.

:46:19. > :46:29.That forehand is deadly. He tried to keep it deep enough but could not.

:46:30. > :46:36.He is trying to get that depth. This one was too short. Getting that one

:46:37. > :46:45.down the line. He used in a couple of points previously. He needs to

:46:46. > :46:53.work on little bit more. -- on that a little bit more.

:46:54. > :47:03.Why didn't he come into the net? Two or three times. This one here.

:47:04. > :47:18.Should have gone in. You kind of see what he was worried

:47:19. > :47:25.about. Had he come in he would probably have covered more down the

:47:26. > :47:30.line have had a winner. Anyway, he has this served to save another.

:47:31. > :47:38.Break point here, Edmund. Sent out with the message from Leon Smith to

:47:39. > :47:44.always stay closer to the baseline than Pouille. When he gets inside

:47:45. > :48:07.the baseline, that is when he is deadly.

:48:08. > :48:46.Oh, he has missed it. He has missed it. That could be a decisive break

:48:47. > :49:31.for France in the opening set off this weekend.

:49:32. > :49:38.Talking about France's record in the Davis Cup, it is extraordinary they

:49:39. > :49:45.have not won it since 2001 when they went out to Australia. They took a

:49:46. > :49:58.fantastic team but they were facing an Australian team of Hewitt and

:49:59. > :50:03.Todd Woodbridge on grass. I was speaking to Yannick Noah about this

:50:04. > :50:09.yesterday. I said, why have you not won it since 2001? He said, not good

:50:10. > :50:16.enough for the P is a passionate supporter and wants his nation to

:50:17. > :50:35.win it again soon. -- good enough - he is a passionate supporter.

:50:36. > :53:48.Edmund is not finished in the set just yet.

:53:49. > :54:07.45 minutes played. That point, France. -- set point will.

:54:08. > :54:21.That is long. That needed a big effort from Lucas Pouille. He is the

:54:22. > :54:26.highest ranked player from either team by a reasonable distance. He

:54:27. > :54:33.will need to work to get his win for that he won the first set against

:54:34. > :54:38.Kyle Edmund 7-5. What a great start to the end of that set for the

:54:39. > :54:43.French team. Being caught side, I want to make a point about Kyle

:54:44. > :54:47.Edmund and his demeanour. On this court I can see a real steely look

:54:48. > :54:51.in his idol he is locked into his game very early. For viewers who

:54:52. > :54:56.watched the Canada match, a really big difference for the player he was

:54:57. > :55:01.on a fast court and was uncomfortable and went into his

:55:02. > :55:06.shell. Down here, we cannot have a good Davis Cup tie without a good

:55:07. > :55:13.crowd. There are two big banks of British support for this type in a

:55:14. > :55:18.quite small stadium. We have the bank of red and another bank of

:55:19. > :55:23.British crowd. The stadium holds 5500. A lot of British support and

:55:24. > :55:35.encouragement for Kyle Edmund. Still all to pay for -- play for in this

:55:36. > :55:42.match. Kyle Edmund, getting encouragement from Leon Smith. He

:55:43. > :55:48.has been in charge of this team since 2010. The first tie against

:55:49. > :55:51.Turkey. This is his 19th tie. Along the way, winning the whole thing,

:55:52. > :56:08.the Davis Cup itself, in 2015. The fourth year in a row that

:56:09. > :56:14.Britain have made the world group quarterfinals. Consistency now. As

:56:15. > :56:19.we said earlier, establishing themselves as a world group nation.

:56:20. > :56:23.The winners of this tie will play either Serbia or Spain in the

:56:24. > :56:30.semifinals. Mouthwatering whichever way it goes. Britain would be home

:56:31. > :56:59.to Serbia and away to Spain. There is not that much to say at the

:57:00. > :57:04.changeover to Kyle Edmund from the British point of view. He played

:57:05. > :57:09.well and his tactics were good into that one service game where he

:57:10. > :57:11.played some tight balls and his service was not aggressive. He gave

:57:12. > :57:28.the break away. Organic Noah would obviously have

:57:29. > :57:33.been very happy. -- Yannick. He came through in the crunch. That is what

:57:34. > :57:35.this level is about. They find a way, playing the right shot at the

:57:36. > :57:55.right time. This first match of the weekend

:57:56. > :58:05.really is important for Britain. Dan Evans has hardly ever played on

:58:06. > :58:14.clay. He has had the occasional visit on the surface.

:58:15. > :58:26.Again... The extraordinary and a slice that Pouille gets. This was an

:58:27. > :58:33.amazing amount of spin but the court was a poor bounce. That was the

:58:34. > :58:55.combination of a lot of spin and a bit of a dodgy area on the court.

:58:56. > :59:12.Lucas Pouille is in the mood to go on and dominate, which is pleasing

:59:13. > :59:19.the locals, of course. Kyle Edmund must find a way to restrain his

:59:20. > :59:23.opponent. Pouille, let us remind you, he is 17 in the world and so

:59:24. > :59:32.dangerous when he is in form like this.

:59:33. > :59:39.Yannick Noah entertained both teams at the official dinner. He is the

:59:40. > :59:44.captain but a very well-known and well-regarded singer in France. He

:59:45. > :59:50.sells albums by the bucket load. He has sold more than a million copies

:59:51. > :59:54.on one of his albums. He could not resist the microphone the other

:59:55. > :59:58.night. Let's put it that way. A bit of an impromptu performance. He sold

:59:59. > :00:40.out the Stade de France as well. The familiar faces of French tennis

:00:41. > :00:41.there. A coach who has worked with pretty much every French player over

:00:42. > :01:14.the years. Strength in depth, one of the great

:01:15. > :01:18.features of French tennis. 11 players on the top 100. They might

:01:19. > :01:25.be missing their top two this weekend, three of their top four. In

:01:26. > :01:27.fact four of their top five, when you consider Gilles Simon is not

:01:28. > :01:51.playing either. It's funny, they have been really,

:01:52. > :01:54.really happy, the British team, with the temporary court that has been

:01:55. > :01:58.brought in and laying inside the indoor arena. It has been playing

:01:59. > :03:32.perfectly throughout their practice. Stringing a couple of nice points

:03:33. > :03:38.together, that will make him feel a bit better. There were a run of

:03:39. > :03:46.games against him, five in total, three at the end of the first set,

:03:47. > :03:51.two at the start of the second. Not going his way, but there is a long

:03:52. > :03:56.way to go from here. If you are a casual visitor to the Davis Cup, it

:03:57. > :03:59.is best five. Or at least it is for now. That is one of the things that

:04:00. > :04:04.was talked about, a possible change to best of three sets for singles.

:04:05. > :04:07.Maybe a realisation they have to keep best of five for the doubles,

:04:08. > :04:13.because of course there is only one match. From a crowd point of view,

:04:14. > :04:18.you can't realistically sell tickets for just two sets of tennis. It was

:04:19. > :04:25.one of the suggestions, possibly following the FedEx Cup format. I

:04:26. > :04:29.think that is of the table, a lot of the players said it wouldn't make

:04:30. > :04:34.much difference, they still have to rock above the start of the week,

:04:35. > :04:36.three days or two days. Best of five sets would make a big difference.

:04:37. > :04:51.Edward. -- it would. Finally, somebody has come in and

:04:52. > :04:54.admitted there were problems with the format. Before, they just said,

:04:55. > :05:03.well, everything is great. It wasn't great. You've got to listen to the

:05:04. > :05:04.players. Of course. If you say it is the World Cup of tennis, you need

:05:05. > :05:19.the very best. Having said that, as I said in the

:05:20. > :05:24.first set, when you come here and you are part of this, when you are

:05:25. > :05:26.in amongst it, it does feel special. It does. It is something well worth

:05:27. > :05:42.preserving. Shame, he did really well to get

:05:43. > :05:48.that volley, which was excellent in itself.

:05:49. > :06:34.Very comfortable up there. Superb first volley.

:06:35. > :06:51.With Serbia ahead, potentially, in the semifinals, there is the

:06:52. > :06:55.intriguing prospect of maybe having Djokovic against Murray for the

:06:56. > :06:58.first time in the Davis Cup. In a semifinal! A while to go before

:06:59. > :07:18.then. Last year, Britain played Serbia out

:07:19. > :07:23.in Belgrade. Kyle Edmund was very much the hero that we can. This man,

:07:24. > :07:26.winning two matches to seal the title Britain. -- very much the hero

:07:27. > :08:07.that weekend. Kyle Edmund, forcing quick movement

:08:08. > :08:09.out to the backhand side. That's all he has to improve, the first split

:08:10. > :09:26.step. Lovely arc to that forehand from

:09:27. > :09:46.Edmonds down the line. Have to work so hard on this

:09:47. > :09:58.surface, so much harder than the others.

:09:59. > :10:06.He has certainly done a really good job there, hauling himself out of

:10:07. > :10:08.that game. Still a break of serve down in this set. Could have been a

:10:09. > :10:19.lot worse at 0-30. Double break, set almost over. He

:10:20. > :10:21.dug in well. He had the confidence to go for it on his forehand. He

:10:22. > :11:02.picked the right shots. France have a tradition of taking

:11:03. > :11:07.the Davis Cup around the nation. Lille, Lyon, Nice. Here we are in

:11:08. > :11:12.Rouen, capital of the Northern region of Normandy. They like a good

:11:13. > :11:18.cheese board, but don't try and get a taxi after midnight! Lovely city.

:11:19. > :11:56.Port city, on the Seine. This time, Kyle Edmund, having

:11:57. > :12:02.earlier told the umpire to save her legs, insists that she comes down

:12:03. > :12:31.and look at the Mark. Definitely wide, as indicated by Pouille.

:12:32. > :12:40.Now Pouille once the umpire to have a look. He says it was long from

:12:41. > :12:44.Edmund. And it was! Edmund, not so sure. These players get a natural

:12:45. > :12:49.feel for when the ball comes off Mark Rowley -- comes off the

:12:50. > :12:58.strings. It was something he was deliberately

:12:59. > :13:40.trying to avoid in the early stages, getting the crowd against him.

:13:41. > :13:48.He is managing this service game really well. Pouille is getting a

:13:49. > :13:56.lot of first serves in, finding the corners. Putting pressure on him.

:13:57. > :14:05.Three very emphatic service holds in the second set.

:14:06. > :14:08.Just looks a little bit more rattled than in the early stages. The crowd,

:14:09. > :15:47.not helping. An impressive 1-2 punch from Pouille

:15:48. > :15:52.on the backhand side. Got in early, before the kick went up too high.

:15:53. > :15:57.Went to the forehand side, then tuck that again, on the rise. Very

:15:58. > :16:31.confident. Great effort from Edmund to reach

:16:32. > :16:38.what was another extraordinary slice from Pouille. Just proving too

:16:39. > :16:42.classy at the moment, the Frenchman. Hasn't hit many of these. But it is

:16:43. > :17:28.so effective when he has. It's a great feel for that shot.

:17:29. > :17:56.Really hard shot to make, that. Right on the line. Good hold.

:17:57. > :18:08.These early service games, tough for Edmund. Pouille is marching through

:18:09. > :18:12.his very quickly. Absolutely. Pouille has the luxury of a couple

:18:13. > :18:16.of free points almost every service game. His serve has become very

:18:17. > :18:18.accurate, hitting the corners. He just has to believe. He's got two

:18:19. > :19:25.more chances, a set to break. Well, that is a turn up. Edmund will

:19:26. > :19:39.realise that, he needs to seize on it.

:19:40. > :19:45.That is the first time we have seen a guided volley from Pouille. He

:19:46. > :19:52.should have done a lot more with that. Credit to Kyle Edmund, bending

:19:53. > :20:00.that forehand around. Still a tough shot to make. An opening here, 0-30.

:20:01. > :20:49.Always looking to get a chance to come in. You can see his instinct,

:20:50. > :20:51.as soon as he was stretched wide, he knew that was the time to get in

:20:52. > :21:30.quick. Daring, isn't it? 15-30. It

:21:31. > :21:38.demonstrates the confidence in his own ability that he has.

:21:39. > :21:43.His far behind the baseline, especially on the second serve.

:21:44. > :21:44.Maybe he should move up a bit, very vulnerable to the drop shot from

:21:45. > :21:53.distance. Chance for Edmund now, that was

:21:54. > :22:03.tight. Low down into the torque as well. -- net.

:22:04. > :22:10.It has been a long time since his previous break point in this match,

:22:11. > :22:26.Kyle Edmund. He converted that. Now, chance to hit back in the second.

:22:27. > :22:32.Dipping his serve, pulling the ball down, not staying up long enough.

:22:33. > :22:50.Shows, if you can hang in there, he didn't do too much to win the game.

:22:51. > :22:54.But he did set the tone with that first point.

:22:55. > :22:59.A weird thing to say when you know you have to win at least four points

:23:00. > :23:03.to win a game of tennis. But sometimes, winning at first point,

:23:04. > :23:04.it can be so key to get you in the mindset, right, this will be the

:23:05. > :25:13.one. What a turnaround. Not so long ago,

:25:14. > :25:20.Kyle Edmund was 1-3, 0-30. Now three games in a row, he is ahead 5-4 and

:25:21. > :25:23.the chance to pile some pressure on the home favourite, Lucas Pouille.

:25:24. > :25:28.He is about to serve to stay in the set.

:25:29. > :25:40.A lot of work of this changeover. His mind suddenly switched off.

:25:41. > :25:46.Clearly winning the set pretty comfortably. Didn't look under any

:25:47. > :25:51.pressure on his serve. Then suddenly his first serve started dropping,

:25:52. > :25:52.two easy balls at 30-30. All of a sudden, Kyle Edmund is certainly

:25:53. > :26:05.back in the set. Are times in that set, he looked

:26:06. > :26:11.like he was almost accepting his fate. He was still fighting, but it

:26:12. > :26:14.didn't look like he had any difference in his game plan, he

:26:15. > :26:18.looked like he was going down relatively rapidly. He has been

:26:19. > :26:25.handed a lifeline here. He has got his confidence back.

:26:26. > :26:31.Leon Smith has been very talkative in the second set, down on the

:26:32. > :26:37.bench. They have turned it around, between them.

:26:38. > :26:40.As you know, once the balls are in play, there is nothing you can do,

:26:41. > :27:35.you just have to watch. That was a fly swat, wasn't it? The

:27:36. > :27:38.last game and a half, he has lost his game a bit, but still have the

:27:39. > :27:46.confidence to go for that. He has that belief. The captain saying, why

:27:47. > :27:55.on earth did you not play a game like that in the last game? Nicolas

:27:56. > :27:58.Mahut, he will be teaming up with him for doubles. Played with each

:27:59. > :28:24.other since they were 11. The doubles will be very

:28:25. > :29:14.interesting. An amazing recovery shot in the

:29:15. > :29:16.middle of that rally from Pouille, to his backhand side. This is what

:29:17. > :29:21.we were talking about earlier in the match. Can't let him back in. Back

:29:22. > :29:28.into the baseline, let alone inside it. Such a good athlete. How he won

:29:29. > :29:31.that rally, he never looked like he was going to win it. It was the

:29:32. > :29:35.depth that he got on that defensive slice. Gave him the time to regain

:29:36. > :30:08.court position. Interesting, fantastic official,

:30:09. > :30:12.consistently one of the best over the last ten years or so. Lives in

:30:13. > :32:03.Britain, married a Brit. Well, he lost his serve at 5-5 in

:32:04. > :32:08.the first set. This time he holds his serve and he and captain Smith

:32:09. > :32:14.will hope the outcome of the set is different. He is firmly back in it.

:32:15. > :32:24.Absolutely those he has played some good tennis. At times, Pouille has

:32:25. > :32:26.been a better athlete on court. His weapons of different from Kyle

:32:27. > :32:38.Edmund. The forehand from Kyle Edmund has been awful at times. He

:32:39. > :32:44.defends better. He is a bit more aggressive at times. It has been a

:32:45. > :32:50.very even match. Sometimes you feel he is a player who, to me, does not

:32:51. > :32:54.look very confident. He has not had a particularly good year so far. He

:32:55. > :32:58.looks to be not quite that confidence wise for the P is

:32:59. > :33:05.thinking too much at the moment. A surprise defeat in the first round

:33:06. > :33:12.of the Australian Open, Pouille, to the player from Kazakhstan and. He

:33:13. > :33:13.won the first set 6-0. Back-to-back defeats by Donald Young in North

:33:14. > :33:31.America. Lost to Murray in Dubai as well. In

:33:32. > :33:36.the final in Marseille, he lost to his compatriot, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

:33:37. > :33:45.He is not playing in this tie because he has a new father. The

:33:46. > :33:49.joys of being a new parent, the innocence of it. How quickly things

:33:50. > :34:32.will change! You do not know what you are in for.

:34:33. > :34:48.An exceptional volley. Wonderful to watch.

:34:49. > :34:56.Look at the angle! Not just a case of reaching it. The stretch and the

:34:57. > :35:03.effort to make it. The angle of the racket head and to get that pays on

:35:04. > :35:08.the ball. The captain love that. Full stretch Maldives, falling all

:35:09. > :35:15.over the place. The crowd used to love him, all right. Especially in

:35:16. > :35:32.France. The first tie-break of the weekend.

:35:33. > :35:38.In these tie-breakers, over the best of five sets, for the person who

:35:39. > :35:46.lost the first set it is obviously more important to them. Then on clay

:35:47. > :35:47.in the Davis Cup, it is almost a must win tie-breaker here for Kyle

:35:48. > :36:18.Edmund. All the sets are tie-break sets

:36:19. > :37:33.after the rule change last season. Five tie-break sets.

:37:34. > :37:42.Credit to Kyle Edmund at the Frenchman here is just playing an

:37:43. > :38:40.awful tie-breaker so far. A lot of mistakes will stop --.

:38:41. > :38:56.He has a touch of Grosjean about him, don't you think? He is here

:38:57. > :39:03.this weekend as well. A rival from Tim Henman's era for that this is a

:39:04. > :39:05.fascinating phase of this match, particularly considering where we

:39:06. > :39:23.were earlier in two. Now, he is in big, big trouble, the

:39:24. > :39:30.Frenchman. Two points have gone against his serve and it means

:39:31. > :39:32.Edmund now has two service points to come. Win them both and we are level

:39:33. > :40:11.at 1-1. Still he makes those audacious drop

:40:12. > :40:16.shots. He goes for them even though he has been off in the tie-break. He

:40:17. > :40:28.goes for a shot like this and makes it. That is a proper leg break, a

:40:29. > :40:44.leg break off the sideline. Such accuracy in his play.

:40:45. > :40:57.Two Willian points. -- brilliant points. Edmund didn't do much wrong

:40:58. > :40:58.with his serve, it was just the Frenchman stepping up and taking the

:40:59. > :41:41.ball on. Twists and turns. 5-2 up Edmund now.

:41:42. > :42:26.It is 5-5. Another service point to come for Pouille.

:42:27. > :42:34.Some recovery from the tie-break this, Lucas Pouille. Now it is set

:42:35. > :43:03..4 82-0 lead. Yannick Noah looks to the ceiling.

:43:04. > :43:13.He cannot believe the tie-break continues and goes to another

:43:14. > :43:18.changeover. It is great stuff. An interesting tie-breaker. Looked to

:43:19. > :43:43.be over for Kyle Edmund. Suddenly he got inspired.

:43:44. > :44:37.President of the French tennis Federation finding it hard to watch.

:44:38. > :44:54.That was long. 2-0 to France. Fine, fine margins. 5-2 down when he was,

:44:55. > :45:01.Lucas Pouille. He'd tried the most audacious backhand sliced drop shot

:45:02. > :45:07.which just clipped the sidelines. Had that gone wide, it would have

:45:08. > :45:13.been 6-2 and four set points for Edmund. Potentially 1-1. Now things

:45:14. > :45:26.so different and France firmly in charge as they stand now.

:45:27. > :45:34.So many twists and turns in the second set. How did you see it? Kyle

:45:35. > :45:40.did well to get back into it. There was an uphill battle at the start of

:45:41. > :45:47.the second set. He lost servers and a couple of tough games. He had to

:45:48. > :45:51.hang in. He was up 4-1. He played some good points and was really

:45:52. > :45:58.aggressive. Aim up a little short. It will be a long way back from

:45:59. > :46:03.here. It has been a really close match. Lots of offence being played.

:46:04. > :46:11.Not much defence. Very much the case of who gets the first hit in. I

:46:12. > :46:16.think Pouille may have a slightly better served than Kyle and it has

:46:17. > :46:22.held up better. I think he can get back into the match. I hope he

:46:23. > :46:28.believes he can. It is a big ask to come back for him now. A big ask to

:46:29. > :46:34.come back from two sets down. Anything he can do at the start of

:46:35. > :46:38.the third set? He needs to keep his energy levels up. He had

:46:39. > :46:46.disappointment from losing the first set. A lot of tennis still to be

:46:47. > :46:54.played. Belief is key. Believe why you are a better player than that

:46:55. > :47:00.guy. Looking ahead to the next match, how do you see the match

:47:01. > :47:07.going? It is a tough match for Dan. I would not say he is going in as

:47:08. > :47:15.favourite for the match. I think Dan does have a game where he can

:47:16. > :47:22.trouble him. You don't know what you get with Jeremy Chardy. He

:47:23. > :47:26.potentially clued out power Dan but if not, Dan will run all day and

:47:27. > :47:32.make a lot of balls and make it ugly for him. We're hoping that is the

:47:33. > :47:44.case. Thank you, Jamie. All the best. 7-5, 7-6 the lead for Pouille

:47:45. > :47:49.against Kyle Edmund. Many matches over the years have been won from

:47:50. > :47:54.two sets down. A huge challenge for Kyle Edmund. It was a huge challenge

:47:55. > :48:02.at the start, let alone having lost the first two sets.

:48:03. > :48:14.Challenges are what you play for, really. It is the professional

:48:15. > :48:22.mindset. It will be a really big task for Britain in the match as a

:48:23. > :48:30.whole should Kyle Edmund lose. Given Dan Evans lack of petition on clay

:48:31. > :48:35.and the fact that France have named a doubles team who played in the

:48:36. > :48:43.Wimbledon finals last summer, they will start as favourites.

:48:44. > :50:42.A nice way to start the set when you are in a position like this.

:50:43. > :50:54.He has picked that shot extremely well today. Is that four of those he

:50:55. > :50:58.has made? He disguises it very well. It did not need to be on the

:50:59. > :52:12.sideline like the one in the tie-break. Exactly.

:52:13. > :52:23.What do you feel Edmund has to do here is to mark is there anything

:52:24. > :52:28.more you feel in a particular aspect? I think he should move up,

:52:29. > :52:36.particularly on the second circle when he gets the chance on Pouille's

:52:37. > :52:38.serve. He will not be as vulnerable with the short ball. I do not think

:52:39. > :53:09.he is playing badly. Tennis for the connoisseur. I think

:53:10. > :53:16.that is the first point that Pouille has lost with the drop shot. That is

:53:17. > :53:23.one thing about Kyle Edmund's game, he has improved in all aspects that

:53:24. > :53:27.his flexibility, his game plan. If Plan A is not working, he struggles

:53:28. > :53:39.to come up with Plan capital B. A gleam of light of a drum behind

:53:40. > :55:49.the umpire's chair. UMPIRE: New balls, please.

:55:50. > :55:58.Belatedly realised it was time for the new balls. The German referee of

:55:59. > :56:21.this tie. He is on court to get them of Lucas Pouille.

:56:22. > :56:27.He can move up a little bit on the second serve. He is still a long way

:56:28. > :57:00.back. He did everything right. He set up

:57:01. > :57:03.that point. A superb point. He was unfortunate with the volley. He has

:57:04. > :57:11.not done this very often. You can see the moment he hit it, he will be

:57:12. > :57:25.a relieved man. He surrenders so much of the court,

:57:26. > :57:39.Kyle Edmonds, when he is that far back. You can do that if you move

:57:40. > :57:47.like Andy Murray or Rafael Nadal. It opens up a wider angle for the line

:57:48. > :57:56.of attack. As you say, some players are so good at squirming they can

:57:57. > :58:05.cover it anyway. -- at serving. That is something that may be will be

:58:06. > :58:13.talked about. 2-0 sets up and now it is 2-1 and going with serve in the

:58:14. > :58:24.third. The Davis Cup quarterfinal, France beating Japan in the first

:58:25. > :58:31.round. Japan without Nishikori. If they win this one, they will be

:58:32. > :58:35.against Serbia. Great Britain beating Canada in the first round

:58:36. > :58:49.who were without me los Raonic. They played them in Belgrade last year.

:58:50. > :58:59.They have played them before in Telford. A great history between

:59:00. > :59:06.these two. A 22nd Davis Cup meeting between the two nations. New played

:59:07. > :59:16.a pretty impressive tie in 1978 at Roland Garros. You have been looking

:59:17. > :59:25.at me with a perplexed look. That is simply too far back! I think I lost

:59:26. > :59:31.against Yannick Noah in that one. You also played in a zonal semifinal

:59:32. > :00:56.at is born where Britain won 4-1 against France. -- Eastbourne.

:00:57. > :01:02.Now that's a shot we haven't seen a lot of from Kyle Edmund. The

:01:03. > :01:08.backhand down the line. It can be a real weapon. It has been

:01:09. > :01:13.in so many of his matches in his young career. He plays it with his

:01:14. > :01:23.upright stance. A really good back lift and follows through it worked

:01:24. > :01:27.to perfection there. And right on queue he gives us

:01:28. > :01:33.another one. A slightly different re different height. He had to bend the

:01:34. > :01:38.knees a little more. It could be an effective tactic moving forward.

:01:39. > :01:42.I think it's a good play. He doesn't do it very often. That's the thing

:01:43. > :01:43.that is surprising more than anything else.

:01:44. > :01:59.Super. I think we've seen a little of that

:02:00. > :02:06.with Kyle Edmund. He's made a huge improvement. But sometimes when he

:02:07. > :02:10.is getting beaten, he tends to keep playing that way - you have to

:02:11. > :02:16.change it up when you are losing. Ooof! Not like a complete change. It

:02:17. > :02:20.is not like he lost easily in the first two sets. They were close. A

:02:21. > :03:20.couple of points here and there. But just subtle changes.

:03:21. > :04:07.Well, a missed drop shot followed by a double fault.

:04:08. > :04:55.If there is to be a turning point in this match, perhaps this is it.

:04:56. > :05:09.Oh, just too good. Edmunds seemed to be in charge of

:05:10. > :06:24.this rally, up until this shot here, boom!

:06:25. > :06:35.Oh, he was going for an abroute Hayemaker there. On the break point.

:06:36. > :06:39.. He was going to have to hit a winner from out far and wide.

:06:40. > :07:31.He would have had an open shot in an open court.

:07:32. > :07:42.So two break points in the game for Kyle Edmund. In the first there was

:07:43. > :07:47.that fantastic crosshand forehand which left him no chance, meaning he

:07:48. > :07:52.had to go big on the second. That didn't work.

:07:53. > :07:59.Well, that's been a future of the match, really. A few dips. You get

:08:00. > :08:04.them in the best of five-set matches but with Pouille there has been a

:08:05. > :08:10.few games where he has thrown the errors into groups. The chances have

:08:11. > :08:14.been there for Kyle Edmund and he hasn't quite taken then. But you

:08:15. > :08:18.look at this and think, if he condition still hang in there and

:08:19. > :08:22.cuts out the third set. This is still possible. Pouille still don't

:08:23. > :08:24.look completely confident in himself. There are periods when he

:08:25. > :09:34.goes off and seems to doubt himself. Pouille took the return of serve in

:09:35. > :09:38.the first point in this game pretty early and it surprised Edmund a

:09:39. > :09:43.little. I'm not saying it's why weave just

:09:44. > :09:45.seen the double fault but perhaps he was just pushing to pin his opponent

:09:46. > :10:08.a little deeper. Second serve at 0-30. Already two

:10:09. > :10:17.sets down. Oh, boy. Double faults in a row.

:10:18. > :10:41.He could be in big trouble in this game.

:10:42. > :11:49.A poor game there, unfortunately. Pouille not really having to do too

:11:50. > :11:53.much to break serve there. We were talking about comebacks from

:11:54. > :11:57.two sets to love down, there have been many of them over the years.

:11:58. > :11:58.But two sets and a break and the number of comebacks. Not quite so

:11:59. > :12:15.great. Just the two games now from victory,

:12:16. > :12:19.Lucas Pouille. He's played well. We were talking earlier about the need

:12:20. > :12:21.for him to step up as leader of this team on the court. You feel that

:12:22. > :12:47.he's done just that, so far. Well, Pouille indicating that is

:12:48. > :12:51.well long but even so, Edmund instructing for them to mark it

:12:52. > :13:52.long. Again, a sign of the Englishman's frustration.

:13:53. > :13:59.Well Edmund maybe required again, coming out of the draw to play the

:14:00. > :14:03.first match as number two player, he may have to play the first match and

:14:04. > :14:08.the last match. But if Britain make it all the way to a deciding rubber,

:14:09. > :14:16.that is going to be an incredible achievement from here. It's just

:14:17. > :14:21.hard to see where the three victories will come from if Pouille

:14:22. > :14:26.wins this match, John. I think Dan Evans is the wildcard of

:14:27. > :14:31.the tie. On paper, clay courts, he has not played that much at the top

:14:32. > :14:37.level but he's an interesting character, Dan Evans and he has an

:14:38. > :14:42.interesting way of playing. If he executes his game and doesn't get

:14:43. > :14:46.too bogged down with the thought it's clay, he might throw a surprise

:14:47. > :14:52.in. But it is tough to see it after the way that this match is going.

:14:53. > :14:57.He looked sharp in practice, yesterday, Evans. The approach will

:14:58. > :15:01.definitely be a fearless one, that's for sure. That's what Leon Smith

:15:02. > :15:08.wants to see. And that's really encouraging. Why not? Play your way.

:15:09. > :15:13.Give it a go like Henman did in 2001 and almost won the thing. For all of

:15:14. > :15:15.Henman's Wimbledon semi-finals, you could say that the French Open was

:15:16. > :15:28.the best chance of winning a slam. I've forgotten who he was playing in

:15:29. > :15:49.the final! Yes! Gaston Gaudio.

:15:50. > :15:54.There you go. Now, Edmund needs to keep winning

:15:55. > :16:38.point after point here. Serving to stay in the match.

:16:39. > :16:50.Thinking back to that year at Roland Garros, 2004, Henman in the finals,

:16:51. > :16:58.the most devastating was that finals. Straight sets, an absolute

:16:59. > :17:07.blitz of serve, volley, chip, charge.

:17:08. > :17:11.Edmund keeps the match alive here. And the Argentine had absolutely no

:17:12. > :17:15.idea what hit him. That element of surprise is sometimes what is

:17:16. > :17:20.lacking in professional tennis, John? Players have their own

:17:21. > :17:24.strategy, their way of going about thing, come on, shock us. Give us

:17:25. > :17:30.something different. You never know. That's right. And clay-court tennis,

:17:31. > :17:35.there is a pace to it. Sometimes if you alter that pace and do something

:17:36. > :17:38.different, unexpected it can pay dividends.

:17:39. > :17:44.So Dan Evans to come against Jeremy Chardy.

:17:45. > :17:47.Will we see surprises from the man from Solihull? Because here, Lucas

:17:48. > :18:57.Pouille is close to victory for France.

:18:58. > :19:03.Well, he's flying high, Lucas Pouille and he's leading his nation

:19:04. > :19:07.to the perfect start in this Davis Cup quarter-final. Because after two

:19:08. > :19:15.hours and ten minutes, which is nothing, really, on a clay-court, he

:19:16. > :19:36.has two match points to give France. It gives France the perfect start.

:19:37. > :19:45.Great work from Lucas Pouille. It really was. That was a dangerous

:19:46. > :20:03.match for him. Against the big-hitting Kyle Edmund.

:20:04. > :20:08.And Edmund did stand toe-to-toe. And especially in the tie-break. That

:20:09. > :20:12.one that got away. But Lucas Pouille, the highest ranked player

:20:13. > :20:22.in either team across the weekend, emphasised that fact. 17 in the

:20:23. > :20:28.world and for good reason. So now, from a France point of view,

:20:29. > :20:35.the opportunity with Jeremy Chardy to take a 2-0 lead after the opening

:20:36. > :20:40.day, against a man in Dan Evans, who has hardly ever played on clay in

:20:41. > :20:45.his career. But from a British point of view this is going to take an

:20:46. > :20:51.almighty comeback to get the three points needed a across a Davis Cup

:20:52. > :20:59.weekend. Where will the points come from? The doubles is a must-win from

:21:00. > :21:02.the British point of view. So that is Murray and Inglot against Nicolas

:21:03. > :21:07.Mahut and Julien Benneteau. They have both played in finals and who

:21:08. > :21:11.over the years have been an established team. And on the final

:21:12. > :21:16.day it will be Evans against Pouille. And on this form, Pouille

:21:17. > :21:21.would start the strong, strong favourite author that one.

:21:22. > :21:27.Edmund in a potential decider against Chardy. But that is way, way

:21:28. > :21:30.down the line. As things stand, France are even firmer favourites to

:21:31. > :21:42.reach the semi-finals than they were before the start of play today.

:21:43. > :21:48.So, 1-0 to France. They have the advantage here in Rouen as Pouille

:21:49. > :21:53.defeats Kyle Edmund. We have Dan Evans coming up against Jeremy

:21:54. > :21:58.Chardy in about 20 minutes' time. We are happying to hear from the

:21:59. > :22:02.winner, Pouille. A couple of French interviews. Jamie is poised to speak

:22:03. > :22:07.to the winner. John Lloyd is with me. John, he was too good. The

:22:08. > :22:12.second set tie-break is where it changed? That was the key, wasn't

:22:13. > :22:16.it, really. Pouille at times played so brilliantly. But then went off

:22:17. > :22:20.the boil and Kyle Edmund, you thought he could nick this one set

:22:21. > :22:27.and maybe get through it. But the tiebreaker, I must say, that is when

:22:28. > :22:32.you see top 20 player accelerate. He was down 5-2 and he came up

:22:33. > :22:34.brilliantly. Kyle Edmund did nothing wrong but Powell Powell was just too

:22:35. > :22:40.good. As far as Pouille is concerned, you

:22:41. > :22:43.have to give him a couple of chances and he takes them. That's the

:22:44. > :22:49.quality of the player now. Exactly. But this is a big match for

:22:50. > :22:54.him. He comes in and is expected to win the two matches, before he was a

:22:55. > :23:00.part of the team. Now he is in and he's the leader. I thought he played

:23:01. > :23:07.well under the pressure. And he can prove he can play. A potential top

:23:08. > :23:12.ten player this year. And let's show you some of the match, 5-2 up, it

:23:13. > :23:15.looked like he was in control here. But we spoke about the variety of

:23:16. > :23:21.Pouille, the drop shot and look at that.

:23:22. > :23:26.It was outrageous to go for it then. That was brilliantly executed. Then

:23:27. > :23:30.he gets back and where has that shot been. He hasn't used that much and

:23:31. > :23:35.then goes for it again and creates a winner.

:23:36. > :23:39.When this starts happening at 5-2 up, mentally then you start doubting

:23:40. > :23:46.yourself on the key points. You don't want to miss or give it

:23:47. > :23:50.away. You are hesitant. Then you can see how aggressive Pouille was at

:23:51. > :23:55.the end of the tiebreaker. It is tough for Leon Smith to lift

:23:56. > :23:59.Kyle Edmund. He knows it is such an opportunity. He is a fighter out

:24:00. > :24:02.there but Pouille senses that he had his man now and he wasn't going to

:24:03. > :24:06.let him go. I thought it was brilliant. The last

:24:07. > :24:10.few points are just class, really. You can see the confidence. Running

:24:11. > :24:18.around, hitting winners from all over the place. And Kyle Edmund,

:24:19. > :24:24.only he tried hard. He didn't give up but to me his B plan is there,

:24:25. > :24:30.and when someone is on top of him, he tends to go away and he sometimes

:24:31. > :24:34.has to change his game a little. Subtle differences, be a little more

:24:35. > :24:38.aggressive. Take the second set on early. Go down the line to do

:24:39. > :24:45.something to change it up. To me it is when he is losing, he goes away,

:24:46. > :24:52.a little too quickly in my opinion. It is difficult when a player with a

:24:53. > :25:00.variety of shot has Pouille has, to get a winner and he was giving so

:25:01. > :25:03.many winners out there. These type of French players are

:25:04. > :25:08.very good. They have shots that they come up with that are very

:25:09. > :25:12.imaginative. Sometimes they go through a patch where they miss easy

:25:13. > :25:17.balls and you think he is going, then they come up with a shot like

:25:18. > :25:20.Pouille did with the flair and the variety. They are brilliant to

:25:21. > :25:27.watch. I love watching the French players. Pouille is next in line. He

:25:28. > :25:30.is coming up amongst the big boys. I think he will take over the way he

:25:31. > :25:36.is playing. They have seven players in the top

:25:37. > :25:40.50. I am hearing that Jamie is poised and ready to speak to Lucas

:25:41. > :25:44.Pouille. Lucas, congratulations on the win.

:25:45. > :25:49.What was the key to your success today? I think I took the

:25:50. > :25:53.opportunity when it started to be very important. In the important

:25:54. > :25:59.moment. I've been aggressive and solid at

:26:00. > :26:04.the same time. I came back from 5-2 down in the tie-break in the second

:26:05. > :26:08.set. Leading two sets to love was the key.

:26:09. > :26:13.France is a tennis nation of so much class, so many big names, how did it

:26:14. > :26:18.feel to lead your country out as the number one player? It was a great

:26:19. > :26:23.feeling. Especially with the win. It would have been more difficult with

:26:24. > :26:29.a loss. But I'm very happy with the way that I played. With them all

:26:30. > :26:39.behind me. We've spent a great week together, even if the old three were

:26:40. > :26:45.not there. To see them, even if this are not playing, for me, it give as

:26:46. > :26:49.lot of energy. I'm very happy. It is now Jeremy Chardy against Dan

:26:50. > :26:56.Evans, how do you see that match going? Jeremy has played amazing

:26:57. > :27:07.tennis during the week, that's why he's been selected. We practiced one

:27:08. > :27:13.day, he put 3-6 to me. So I hope he is going to win. But I know that Dan

:27:14. > :27:15.Evans is a great player. But I say Jeremy, as he is my friend and my

:27:16. > :27:19.countryman. Thank you very much.

:27:20. > :27:24.You have to say, although he is talking about the players not there,

:27:25. > :27:30.it is all because of patternity leave, injury and illness. But it

:27:31. > :27:34.shows a class nation it is, as far as France is concerned.

:27:35. > :27:40.We are so happy to have Kyle Edmund and Dan Evans coming up the

:27:41. > :27:43.rankings. We have two players in the top 50, not counting Andy Murray.

:27:44. > :27:51.But the French have them all over the place. They are a great nation.

:27:52. > :28:00.And I love the way of the camaraderie, the way that Richard

:28:01. > :28:06.Gasquet and Pierre-Hugues Herbert came out to support them.

:28:07. > :28:13.It is a big ask to be world number 17 there. Heon has to lift his team,

:28:14. > :28:18.to make them believe. You've been in the captain's chair but there is a

:28:19. > :28:22.long way to go? He does. With Dan Evans, we spoke about unpredictable

:28:23. > :28:27.players. He is different to what most players play. In some ways, Dan

:28:28. > :28:32.Evans will fancy this. He goes out there, he loves the Davis Cup. We

:28:33. > :28:37.have seen him play. This is clay, different to what he has his normal

:28:38. > :28:42.successes on. But if he goes out with the mentality to play his game,

:28:43. > :28:47.to put himself out there, yes, it is red but play like it is green or

:28:48. > :28:50.blue, who cares! I think he will surprise people.

:28:51. > :28:55.And as far as Kyle is concerned he must be ready to come out and play

:28:56. > :28:59.what could be the final rubber? We have a team of fighters. Leon Smith

:29:00. > :29:05.formed a greater team. OK, Andy Murray is not here, it is a loss for

:29:06. > :29:10.us but there are fighters here. This is the first rubber. It's not over

:29:11. > :29:16.yet. We have a very good doubles player. Even without Andy with

:29:17. > :29:22.Tomorrow Inglot and Jamie Murray. But we are not out of it yet, Great

:29:23. > :29:28.Britain. It is a fascinating tie. But it is not over. We didn't really

:29:29. > :29:34.expect to win this first match. Pouille with such a fabulous

:29:35. > :29:38.Wimbledon and US Open, not so good this year but he seems to have found

:29:39. > :29:43.his confidence, that is worrying? He is a class player. There is the

:29:44. > :29:48.variety, the shot selection. As he said with Jamie, when he needed to

:29:49. > :29:54.he was aggressive and solid. He was. There were a couple of lapses but

:29:55. > :29:58.then it was back to business. Annan Yanukovich, the captain, there was

:29:59. > :30:05.the inspiration, the changeover. You could see that. There was a lot of

:30:06. > :30:10.pressure on him. If he lost this match, the Davis Cup match tie

:30:11. > :30:15.changes. He proved his pedigree so hats off to him.

:30:16. > :30:22.I have seen outside Jeremy Chardy. Like he needed the peace and quiet.

:30:23. > :30:27.He had a big match coming up, he needed fresh air! They have spoken

:30:28. > :30:30.about how he plays in practice. But practice is not the match. We will

:30:31. > :30:35.see. And we will talk about that. Jeremy

:30:36. > :30:40.Chardy is taking on Britain's Dan Evans in Rouen. And this is how the

:30:41. > :30:47.matches stand at the moment. Belgium is hosting Italy.

:30:48. > :30:51.That is in Charleroi. Steve Darcis and Paolo Lorenzi

:30:52. > :30:55.playing there. Italy has no Fabio Fognini. He is

:30:56. > :31:01.not competing for Italy. So Belgium are very much the favourites.

:31:02. > :31:06.Australia are 2-up. We have been talking about the amazing win from

:31:07. > :31:09.top of torch torch. Beating US number one, Jack Sock in four sets.

:31:10. > :31:14.And Leyton Hewitt was delighted with that win and his attitude. A

:31:15. > :31:19.wonderful attitude on court. And Nick Kyrgios put them two up. He has

:31:20. > :31:24.promised the Australian nation to give them 100% and more. There was a

:31:25. > :31:30.bit of racket throwing and swearing but he won it in three sets against

:31:31. > :31:36.John Isner. Only two were tie-breaks. Then obviously it is

:31:37. > :31:45.France against Great Britain, playing the winner of Serbia against

:31:46. > :31:50.Spain. Serbia have very much in the driving seat against Spain. Spain

:31:51. > :31:55.haven't got so many players, they don't have Rafael Nadal, Lopez or

:31:56. > :31:59.Verdasco. So a worrying theme. A lot of people are talking, about

:32:00. > :32:01.changing the Davis Cup format. That will be something that we will be

:32:02. > :32:13.talking about over the weekend? We have to say good to the ITF

:32:14. > :32:19.president for making changes. They are not committing the change it for

:32:20. > :32:23.that if the players want to play three sets, make it three sets. The

:32:24. > :32:29.players are all wanting change and the fans do not. The difficult thing

:32:30. > :32:32.is that something will have to give. Something from the ATP will have to

:32:33. > :32:37.give full it was only there to years ago we were talking about there is

:32:38. > :32:42.far too much tennis. We have seen players at the end of their careers

:32:43. > :32:47.playing less tennis. How many tournaments will Roger Federer play?

:32:48. > :32:52.You cannot have it both ways in order to get top players playing in

:32:53. > :32:55.this competition more often, there probably have to be two or three

:32:56. > :32:59.less tournaments each year for that to happen every year for the

:33:00. > :33:03.otherwise you look at options like having a Davis Cup every other year.

:33:04. > :33:08.I'm not sure that will happen for that they are trying to cram in more

:33:09. > :33:12.eventful top talking about the best of three sets for the singles

:33:13. > :33:18.griping will lose some of the drama. Players often do not start well and

:33:19. > :33:22.come back to win in five. It could be too short of a Saturday afternoon

:33:23. > :33:27.for the doubles. I think you are right. The doubles will have to be

:33:28. > :33:33.five sets. With doubles, you are only playing half the court. They

:33:34. > :33:37.have to do something. If that is what the players want, the top ten,

:33:38. > :33:42.the top 20, they will need to do that. Otherwise we will need to see

:33:43. > :33:46.more commitment. As a team competition for tennis, we love it.

:33:47. > :33:49.The spectators love it will stop when the players get out here, they

:33:50. > :33:55.moaned a little bit but they love it as well. Whatever they have to do to

:33:56. > :34:05.get them out here, let's make them happen all stop you need to get the

:34:06. > :34:10.top 20 players in a room from last ten years and see what they want.

:34:11. > :34:16.What will give you an opportunity to commit nine times out of ten for

:34:17. > :34:21.Davis Cup matches? Once you have that, put that into play. We saw

:34:22. > :34:29.Roger Federer. He was desperate to win the Davis Cup. Novak Djokovic

:34:30. > :34:36.talks about it. They won it in 2010 and it was one of the best moments

:34:37. > :34:40.of his life. Andy Murray loved it. Once they have won it, it is like,

:34:41. > :34:47.do they want to put themselves through it for a second time? It is

:34:48. > :34:53.so draining. Some events are right after the Grand Slams. You are

:34:54. > :34:57.adding on six or seven weeks of intense competition into your

:34:58. > :35:04.calendar. It is not an intensity of a regular ATP Tour event. Not even a

:35:05. > :35:09.Masters Series. It is an intense environment, especially if you are

:35:10. > :35:15.playing five set matches. There has to be a solution. The competition is

:35:16. > :35:19.fantastic. We have witnessed some unbelievable occasions that are so

:35:20. > :35:26.good for the game of tennis. Let's get everyone in a room and tried to

:35:27. > :35:35.come up with a solution. The match cannot be too far away. One final

:35:36. > :35:40.word, sometimes it is too much in the schedule. On court, all the

:35:41. > :35:50.sponsorships, all the events they must go to and and they have to

:35:51. > :35:54.shake. As Jamie said, players now can have longevity. Look at Roger

:35:55. > :36:00.Federer extra measure what we want our top players to play like that.

:36:01. > :36:07.The Davis Cup at the moment is tough for them to commit to every year. I

:36:08. > :36:12.am sure the debate will continue. As for the next match, Dan Evans, as

:36:13. > :36:19.John was saying, he must forget he is on the clay court. He is against

:36:20. > :36:23.a difficult opponent. At the start with the first match, we were

:36:24. > :36:28.talking about the fact it was a clay court and the natural style of play

:36:29. > :36:33.that Dan Evans wants to play. It is not just about trying to get into

:36:34. > :36:38.the net as much as possible, when you look at Dan Evans game, it is

:36:39. > :36:44.about putting your opponent into difficult position. If it means

:36:45. > :36:52.coming into the net then fine. Find a way on the clay court. That is the

:36:53. > :37:01.key. The French Cockrell is behind us. That's slightly distracted me

:37:02. > :37:12.for just a moment. Understandable. As for Cha de, Yannick Noah sat

:37:13. > :37:22.watching the practice. -- Chardy. It is a brave call by the French

:37:23. > :37:26.captain, isn't it? It is. Davis Cup players do not practice great in

:37:27. > :37:32.practice but you know they will come out for a match day well. Dan does

:37:33. > :37:41.not have that luxury. He has an inexperienced team in some ways with

:37:42. > :37:49.Chardy and temporary. -- Pouille. It is a brave call in some ways but you

:37:50. > :37:59.must go with your gut reaction sometimes. They are very different

:38:00. > :38:05.in style. The waypoint -- the waypoints will go will very much be

:38:06. > :38:09.on his racket. It is a defining factor for him. Simon has been

:38:10. > :38:15.struggling a bit with form. Whoever he plays actually will have a real

:38:16. > :38:21.chance of getting into the match and causing damage. That might not be

:38:22. > :38:31.the case with Chardy. He has a big enough game. I think damn quite

:38:32. > :38:41.likes people coming at him. -- Dan. On the clay court, his confidence

:38:42. > :38:45.has been bad. The matchup is not great for Dan Evans against Simon.

:38:46. > :38:49.How is down going to win five set against Simon with the amount of

:38:50. > :38:58.balls he gets back and the awkward positions he gets you into? With

:38:59. > :39:01.Chardy, there could be a lot more mistakes. Obviously, Yannick Noah

:39:02. > :39:14.was not impressed with Simon in practice. Chardy models himself on

:39:15. > :39:19.Pete Sampras. He wants the big serve and he wants to make things happen

:39:20. > :39:25.off his serve. He gives Dan a chance and he is a skilful player. He uses

:39:26. > :39:29.the slice very well. You are right. You will see Chardy go for big

:39:30. > :39:38.second serves. I will have to redefine that. I have been watching

:39:39. > :39:44.Kyrgios where his average second serve was over 120 miles an hour.

:39:45. > :39:48.Watching the Miami tournament and seeing Kyrgios and a match he played

:39:49. > :39:53.against Roger Federer, you think there are some youngsters who are

:39:54. > :39:58.coming up and will be quite special. It was outstanding, wasn't it?

:39:59. > :40:01.Kyrgios has taken another step up. He was outstanding for them it is

:40:02. > :40:08.only a matter of time before he wins a Grand Slam. He still breaks

:40:09. > :40:12.rackets. He loves breaking rackets. He needs about ten every time he

:40:13. > :40:16.plays a match. He looks like he carries the presence of a Grand Slam

:40:17. > :40:24.winner. A few years ago you would think he did not have it but I think

:40:25. > :40:30.he has it now. Kyrgios, apart from the personality, the shot making, he

:40:31. > :40:34.is so watchable, isn't he? Tennis is crying out for someone like this. I

:40:35. > :40:40.know he gets a lot of bad press but you cannot have it all. We hope to

:40:41. > :40:45.be in a position in the next two or three years where we will lose

:40:46. > :40:50.Federer, who has probably been the best player to watch ever. To have

:40:51. > :41:00.someone like Kyrgios, who will boost viewing figures for tennis, it will

:41:01. > :41:05.be amazing. A very relaxed Jeromy Chardy, along with Janet Noah. No

:41:06. > :41:13.one loves Davis Cup more than Gallic knower. -- knower. He will be

:41:14. > :41:39.leading out Jeromy Chardy. That is the match we are looking

:41:40. > :41:47.forward to. Chardy up against Dan Evans.

:41:48. > :41:55.Let's talk about your relationship with clay for a minute. How would

:41:56. > :42:01.you describe it? I don't really have a relationship with it. I have not

:42:02. > :42:07.played on it much. I liked it as a junior. We will see what happened.

:42:08. > :42:11.Why have you not played as much as other services? I did not need to

:42:12. > :42:15.last year or the year before. I was playing the challenges and I stuck

:42:16. > :42:21.to my favourite surface, and the one I could get the most points from. It

:42:22. > :42:29.is not a matter of avoiding it. It was the best place to play, in Asia

:42:30. > :42:34.last year. How can you get Dan Evans to get some wins on this surface,

:42:35. > :42:40.considering how little he has played on it in his career? It is a big

:42:41. > :42:45.challenge. I think he can play on it but he has not had much time on it.

:42:46. > :42:50.He has not had many matches. Last year he chose to go and play in

:42:51. > :42:54.Asian hard-core challenges, which was the right decision for him but

:42:55. > :43:05.that meant he missed the clay court season again. He has a lot of

:43:06. > :43:08.skills. He moves grateful he has a good tennis brain and will have to

:43:09. > :43:11.figure out a way of how to put his offensive game and different game on

:43:12. > :43:14.a clay court and that could take some time but I think he is capable

:43:15. > :43:20.of playing with matches on here. Is it about balancing your attacking

:43:21. > :43:24.instinct with clay court strategies? I still have to be aggressive,

:43:25. > :43:30.otherwise I will get knocked off the court. Hitting the ball hardest on

:43:31. > :43:37.clay courts. It is about getting forward and making the other guy

:43:38. > :43:41.move. It is a big change for Dan, thinking he will play Simon and now

:43:42. > :43:48.Jeromy Chardy. I think he must find a way to make points, make things

:43:49. > :43:54.happen within a point. Play his game effectively. The last time I saw Dan

:43:55. > :44:00.play a big match on a clay court was in 2013. On that day he got killed.

:44:01. > :44:07.Physically, as an athlete, he could not compete. He was not in a match.

:44:08. > :44:11.Now he is a genuine top 50 player. The question is, the physical side

:44:12. > :44:19.that has built up over the years and the mental side which has allowed

:44:20. > :44:22.him into the top 50, will that make him competitive on the clay court? I

:44:23. > :44:27.do not see why not that he is not playing Federer. He will have a

:44:28. > :44:30.chance to get into this match. He is a totally different player from two

:44:31. > :44:37.years ago and he is a big match player. He has been there and done

:44:38. > :44:41.it in Davis Cup. He plays different shots from a lot of other players on

:44:42. > :44:47.the tour. On clay, you watch the French Open and 90% of the draw

:44:48. > :44:51.plays the same style. Dan Evans plays something different. They like

:44:52. > :44:55.with them before they get into the big rally points and get accustomed

:44:56. > :45:01.to a certain pace. If Dan Evans plays the right way, he will not

:45:02. > :45:04.give them that pace. He will try different things all the time.

:45:05. > :45:17.Sometimes it can work. Let's see how Dan has coped on the

:45:18. > :45:22.clay. His last match was back in 2015. That was the last time he

:45:23. > :45:27.played a competitive match. It is not his favourite surface. Dan is a

:45:28. > :45:35.different player. At Sydney, he went through to the final and then that

:45:36. > :45:39.amazing run he had at the Australian. He has gone from

:45:40. > :45:43.strength to strength. Last year, it was all about, I want to get my

:45:44. > :45:47.ranking to a point that I can get directly into the Grand Slams will

:45:48. > :45:51.he play challengers in time for Wimbledon. He did that for the he

:45:52. > :45:56.made the third or fourth round of the US Open. That was the right

:45:57. > :46:04.decision. It was not that he was avoiding the clay. What that means

:46:05. > :46:07.is it extends the length of time he has not played on it. This year is a

:46:08. > :46:13.very different story. His ranking is he has to play on the clay. He has

:46:14. > :46:17.two Masters Series. He will play out a relatively full clay court season.

:46:18. > :46:25.That is the way it is. You need to play a full clay court season. You

:46:26. > :46:30.have to play on all surfaces. If your top 50, you have to do that.

:46:31. > :46:36.The best of a five set match, the Davis Cup, that is a big ask. He can

:46:37. > :46:41.become a good clay-court player if he puts his craft out that knows how

:46:42. > :46:48.to manage it in the proper way on clay. If he starts off badly, the

:46:49. > :46:52.captain will say, you are doing fine. It will come. Depending on the

:46:53. > :46:57.state of the match when you have someone on court with you, that will

:46:58. > :47:03.help a lot. He has been fiery in the past. Definitely. Two things about

:47:04. > :47:09.the French that have always interested me. How have they got so

:47:10. > :47:14.many players? It blows my mind every time. Secondly, the difference

:47:15. > :47:19.between the French in Great Britain, their captain has sold a million

:47:20. > :47:24.albums. How different is that? A musician as their Davis Cup captain.

:47:25. > :47:32.Are you saying that Leon should start a band? John will take up the

:47:33. > :47:37.guitar in the captain's chair. As for Dan, we have talked about the

:47:38. > :47:44.big serve Chardy but also a huge forehand, which will win him a lot

:47:45. > :47:49.of points. He has a big game. He is talented. I will be fascinated. The

:47:50. > :47:57.ideal situation for him will be the team at 1-0 up. He is 1-0 up so he

:47:58. > :48:02.can open up his shoulders a bit. The pressure not on him so much as if he

:48:03. > :48:06.had had to play their first match will stop both players have so much

:48:07. > :48:12.to prove for different reasons. Chardy has elevated to a clay-court

:48:13. > :48:17.match for his country and Dan Evans has not won on clay. Dan Evans is

:48:18. > :48:23.the more experienced player in Davis Cup by a long way. Jeromy Chardy,

:48:24. > :48:32.the last time he played in the Davis Cup was in 2011. This is really

:48:33. > :48:39.tense time do you think the first few games of the first set will be

:48:40. > :48:43.important? I think it could be. Both players will have different

:48:44. > :48:50.feelings. For me, it is almost more important for Chardy to start well.

:48:51. > :48:55.Dan Evans has done that before. For Chardy, in the Davis Cup, it is a

:48:56. > :49:03.big step up for him. I think it is probably more important for the

:49:04. > :49:12.Frenchman to start better than Dan. 1-0 up in the quarterfinal of the

:49:13. > :49:22.Davis Cup. It is the Italian in the chair for this one. Dan Evans for

:49:23. > :49:31.Great Britain. What a moment! What a challenge! He did not play at all on

:49:32. > :49:36.clay last season. Any futures events in 2015. One match in qualifying for

:49:37. > :49:45.Roland Garros. At Davis Cup, a dead rubber in 2013. Such a bear

:49:46. > :49:50.clay-court record but can he transferred his undoubted skills

:49:51. > :49:57.onto the red stuff to cause an upset here today? I say upset but Evans is

:49:58. > :50:06.the higher ranked player he is 44 compared with Chardy, who is 68 in

:50:07. > :50:10.the world. Everyone here today, making the late change in the French

:50:11. > :50:22.and the two the favourite for this one.

:50:23. > :50:28.A great start from Evans. Chardy will be coming at him. No doubt

:50:29. > :52:00.about that. Two of the nonplaying members of the

:52:01. > :53:07.French squad. Richard A decent start from Jeromy Chardy.

:53:08. > :53:14.He has made the best transition from the American hard courts onto the

:53:15. > :53:23.clay. Talking to panic no yesterday, they wanted to see who made the

:53:24. > :53:29.adjustment the quickest. -- Yannick Noah. Chardy was the man to make the

:53:30. > :53:35.best transition. That is something we look for. Also, Chardy had a lot

:53:36. > :53:41.of confidence from meeting Marin Cilic in Miami, which offers the

:53:42. > :53:48.help with any kind of recovery. -- obviously helped.

:53:49. > :54:50.Still lots of movement in the crowd. Spectators are late.

:54:51. > :54:58.Tactically, a clear message that Leon Smith has sent out to Dan

:54:59. > :55:04.Evans. On the first serve, follow it up with a big hit.

:55:05. > :55:13.Likewise, on return of serve, if you get a look at the second serve, do

:55:14. > :55:21.the same thing. A big hit and then approach. Sort of fearless tennis,

:55:22. > :56:14.which surely is the only way for Dan Evans today.

:56:15. > :56:23.Just wide from Evans on the slides. The perfect start for Chardy. He is

:56:24. > :56:29.a man with an ever increasing connection with Great Britain. Not

:56:30. > :56:32.only has he just moved to South Kensington, in London, this lady

:56:33. > :56:37.here is a British model out getting married at the end of the year.

:56:38. > :56:43.Congratulations to them. Setting up camp in one of the more salubrious

:56:44. > :56:52.parts of London. Handy for Queen's, I said to him yesterday. And he said

:56:53. > :57:08.prof Andy for parties. -- handy for parties.

:57:09. > :57:18.This is just the sort of tennis that Chardy has been putting out in

:57:19. > :57:23.practice, which has earned him the selection. Very naturally, he has

:57:24. > :57:43.slotted into the pace of the clay-court. Good shape on his ball.

:57:44. > :57:50.It is interesting to see Chardy struggle with the ball toss. That is

:57:51. > :57:55.something the British camp have picked up on. It happened a lot in

:57:56. > :57:57.his match against Andy Murray. He had a really bad day with the ball

:57:58. > :58:04.toss. Something to keep an eye on as this

:58:05. > :58:28.match develops. Again there, somehow, using the arch

:58:29. > :58:35.of the back to strike that really impressively again. It looked like

:58:36. > :58:41.ball toss not ideally as he would have liked it. I have played Chardy

:58:42. > :58:43.in the juniors and his action has hardly changed. Surely he will catch

:58:44. > :59:27.that! It is quite a day, isn't it? It is

:59:28. > :59:33.the first Davis Cup appearance by Chardy since 2011 when he won two

:59:34. > :59:38.singles matches. Prior to that he played a dead rubber in 2009 against

:59:39. > :59:44.the Netherlands but that is it that is his Davis Cup record. It is a

:59:45. > :59:48.sign of the strength that France has that people of his calibre cannot

:59:49. > :59:59.normally get a look in. Quite astonishing. Ever since I have been

:00:00. > :00:03.consciously able to think about tennis, you have seen an almost

:00:04. > :00:08.relentless conveyor belt of tennis players. When you come over to

:00:09. > :00:13.France, you see how much they get behind an event like this. You can

:00:14. > :00:20.see this is not a one off. France loves tennis. It is a big part of

:00:21. > :00:30.their lives. No great surprise. The minute that passed the welcome to

:00:31. > :00:32.Rouen sign, what did I see? A tennis court. It is pretty much like that

:00:33. > :02:03.in every town. Well this is very worrying from a

:02:04. > :02:09.British point of view. Chardy look as man determined, not just to win

:02:10. > :02:10.this match but to win the title for France and retain his place in the

:02:11. > :02:27.team. Now a couple of spectators,

:02:28. > :02:31.completely nonchalantly wondering behind Chardy at the moment.

:02:32. > :02:47.Oblivious to the fact that there is anything going on. They are about to

:02:48. > :04:16.sit down, I can report - any time today would be lovely. Thank you!

:04:17. > :04:24.That was completely on the other side of the court. He was confident

:04:25. > :04:36.from where he was sitting and now even more confident from an even

:04:37. > :04:41.closer inspection. And that was right on the line, plum

:04:42. > :04:42.on the line from Chardy. He's going to get his second break point in the

:04:43. > :05:19.game. That was a very big difference to

:05:20. > :05:25.that slice, versus the five or six before it. That shot through and

:05:26. > :05:28.kept low. Anything less than that on a clay-court, and Chardy has so much

:05:29. > :06:22.time to wind up. The ball is just sitting up.

:06:23. > :06:27.His work for the day is done. The question now is will he be required

:06:28. > :07:15.again? Looking at the sweat showing, hard

:07:16. > :07:24.work after just 18 minutes of play but this game is going to be longer

:07:25. > :07:29.than that. An effort required at the moment

:07:30. > :07:31.just to get one game. Let alone a set, let alone three

:07:32. > :08:52.sets. Oh, yes. That Dan Evans backhand,

:08:53. > :09:31.it's a lovely shot when it's working.

:09:32. > :09:53.Chardy looks so comfortable. He's just in every rally, isn't he?

:09:54. > :10:02.We were talking about the plan to get to the net where possible from

:10:03. > :10:06.this point of view. Once there, the test is always to test the Chardy

:10:07. > :10:28.backhand-oh, well. Well, thumbs up from the new

:10:29. > :10:34.President of The French tennis federation. His team are certainly

:10:35. > :10:41.doing the business here. 4-0, Jeremy Chardy.

:10:42. > :10:49.Named in the original five-man squad by Yanis Varoufakis but only

:10:50. > :11:03.selected for the team on Wednesday. -- by Yannick Noah.

:11:04. > :11:11.He's been as high as 25 in the world, Chardy, that was in 2013. A

:11:12. > :11:19.final run to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open that year.

:11:20. > :11:24.And again, there, Jamie Baker, an illustration of his ability to arch

:11:25. > :11:30.that back and get a freakish angle with the serve.

:11:31. > :11:36.Really quite unorthodox. The elbow is so low but what an angle. That

:11:37. > :12:07.was barely halfway up the box on that sideline. Unplayable.

:12:08. > :12:17.215 kilometres per hour, that one, unreturnable. And at the moment,

:12:18. > :12:27.unplayable as Jeremy Chardy moves into a 5-0 lead, first set.

:12:28. > :12:34.He loves playing at home, Chardy as well. That is another reason why

:12:35. > :12:39.Noah was confident to bring him in. Not everyone responds confidently to

:12:40. > :12:44.an atmosphere such as this. Looking at his French Open runs he has 15

:12:45. > :12:52.runs in total. Twice in the fourth round. He beat David Nalbandian in

:12:53. > :12:57.2005, quite some effort. Two years ago, he beat David Goffin, another

:12:58. > :13:03.Goodwin on his record. He lost to Andy Murray in the the last three

:13:04. > :13:12.years, he has lost to Djokovic and others. Who knows how far the he

:13:13. > :13:24.could have been if the draw had not been so unkind in certain ways.

:13:25. > :13:32.Dan Evans for Great Britain, trying as hard as he can to avoid a 0-set

:13:33. > :16:45.against him. You see the pattern of this ever

:16:46. > :16:51.time when the slice comes out with the extra bit of time, when the

:16:52. > :17:00.racket face opens, Chardy knows. He is there, no matter where the slice

:17:01. > :17:10.lands, he will get a forehand on it. Well that's nice! Chardy is just one

:17:11. > :17:15.of those players who loves to run around the backhand at every

:17:16. > :17:16.opportunity, to give himself as many forehands over the course as

:17:17. > :17:38.possible. Dan Evans on the ball! It's taken

:17:39. > :17:39.him 28 minutes! A very necessary feeling from a British point of

:17:40. > :18:56.view. I'm sure you're thinking watching at

:18:57. > :19:03.home, as we are here, he's going to do himself a nasty injury, if he

:19:04. > :19:10.keeps arching his back that much but, Jamie has been telling us it's

:19:11. > :19:21.what he's been doing since junior days and somehow he's survived.

:19:22. > :19:26.Evans tried to do the right thing. You can imagine he has talked about

:19:27. > :19:32.that all week. This is what we will do but it's the great illustration

:19:33. > :19:38.of a difference of a clay-court. That serve bounced above his head.

:19:39. > :20:04.He hit the chip charge above his height. It's not easy.

:20:05. > :20:11.Well after winning just two points on the Chardy serve in the

:20:12. > :20:13.Frenchman's three service games, now it's 15-40. Two break points for

:20:14. > :20:48.Evans. Stepping right in to approach the

:20:49. > :20:51.second serve, almost as if he has to half-volley a couple, the way that

:20:52. > :21:21.Federer started doing a couple of years ago.

:21:22. > :21:28.These are the points that the British team are wanting to avoid

:21:29. > :21:42.with Evans stuck miles behind the baseline.

:21:43. > :21:46.And the umpire finally overruling the line call as both players were

:21:47. > :23:03.happy it was a fault. Oh, well a couple of

:23:04. > :23:10.uncharacteristic errors in that game, and Evans has one of the

:23:11. > :23:17.breaks back. And the way things have been going,

:23:18. > :23:22.Jamie, 5-0 down, that's a decent fight back from Evans.

:23:23. > :23:28.He is fighting well. 0-5, battling to hold. Now having got the break

:23:29. > :23:33.back, you think that Evans' second break was a long break. But there

:23:34. > :23:36.are signs he is finding a bit more of a pattern. He is hitting over a

:23:37. > :23:41.few more. I think it's a good idea.

:23:42. > :23:45.You spoke about the extra height a ball can get on a clay-court,

:23:46. > :23:49.especially with the spins that Chardy is able to implement with his

:23:50. > :23:56.extreme grip, how hard is that to get over the top of the ball height

:23:57. > :24:00.high to your back when you are not the tallest as Evans is? It really

:24:01. > :24:05.makes a difference. Especially like Dan, if he wants to come forward. If

:24:06. > :24:09.you want to take the ball early, unless it is really early, you have

:24:10. > :24:15.to wait for the ball to come over and down the bottom and the other

:24:16. > :24:22.side of the arc, so then you are behind the baseline. You really have

:24:23. > :24:25.to commit. And committing, like you are alluding to, half-volley, type

:24:26. > :25:58.of stuff, it is not easy to do. Then, of course, Jamie, you have the

:25:59. > :26:03.sliding on the clay. Such a difficult skill to get the timing of

:26:04. > :26:12.it right, the recovery, strike, when you just don't play on the stuff.

:26:13. > :26:21.And when Evans plays so little on clay. It must sob alien to him. That

:26:22. > :26:27.is the key point, in terms of the movement.

:26:28. > :26:31.It's the time spent on the surface, obviously. The French kids they

:26:32. > :26:33.spend all their life from a very young age on the clay. They get used

:26:34. > :27:00.to it. His last tournaments on the clay

:27:01. > :27:04.were, you had to go back to May, 2015. A couple of $10,000 Future

:27:05. > :27:24.events in Egypt. Oh, yeah. That's good from Chardy.

:27:25. > :27:37.Forehand to break the set point and then a backhand to convert it.

:27:38. > :27:47.Jeremy Chardy firmly in control of this one, justifying his captain's

:27:48. > :27:52.decision to give him the nod after Gilles Simon in this match. But Dan

:27:53. > :27:59.Evans, accomplished on the tour to get to a ranking of had 4. This time

:28:00. > :28:10.last year, he was 120 in the world. This time two years ago, he was 760

:28:11. > :28:16.in the world -- Evans is accomplished on the tour to get to a

:28:17. > :28:24.ranking of 44. All of his points accrued in the US

:28:25. > :28:31.Open. Then it fell off for a year. And then suddenly, he was way down

:28:32. > :28:36.the list. So to get from 760 to 44 in two years, gives an insight into

:28:37. > :28:43.how hard that is. It's a phenomenal effort. But the

:28:44. > :28:48.other point to makes a to where Dan Evans is today, in the top 50 in the

:28:49. > :28:53.world, it is not the same as some who have been on a steady, more

:28:54. > :28:59.comfortable path, Kyle Edmund was but Dan Evans has missed probably

:29:00. > :29:03.three years worth of tennis at the top level for various reasons,

:29:04. > :29:10.injuries, loss of focus. But I think that is exciting. Now if he can find

:29:11. > :29:16.the consistency over the next two years, who knows where he could be?

:29:17. > :30:10.Playing on the tour, day-to-day, where he could actually get to.

:30:11. > :30:17.At 26 years of age, it is nothing these days.

:30:18. > :30:23.Professional tennis players just get older, stay in the sport longer,

:30:24. > :30:40.peak at a later age. There's ten years in him yet.

:30:41. > :30:52.You would have thought two formed players in 2017 here at the start of

:30:53. > :30:53.the clay-court season, would have been Nadal and Federer.

:30:54. > :31:14.Incredible. It is interesting now that Federer

:31:15. > :31:16.has gone public to say he will not play more tennis before the French

:31:17. > :31:38.Open. You can see his plan. Well not abad attempt from Evans to

:31:39. > :31:47.cut off the cross-court shot from Chardy. But the Frenchman always had

:31:48. > :31:52.things in control, you felt. And yet Federer is Federer but it

:31:53. > :31:56.goes to show if you look after your body, and manage your schedule, you

:31:57. > :32:01.can keep going. There is absolutely no reason why

:32:02. > :32:06.your best tennis can't be in your 30s, as so many players are

:32:07. > :32:12.improving. Sloop.

:32:13. > :32:14.He was saying to Rafa, he is good on the clay. I'm sure he will tear it

:32:15. > :33:24.up. The umpire very irritated at that

:33:25. > :33:35.call out from the crowd. Not as irritated as Evans was.

:33:36. > :33:49.A little bit of talk -- topic. Federer, having won the Australian

:33:50. > :33:53.Open and Miami, he has only lost one match all year. It does make you

:33:54. > :34:10.wonder what else he can achieve this season.

:34:11. > :34:18.Djokovic and Murray with back injury concerns. Do you think Federer has

:34:19. > :34:23.his sights on number one again? I don't think he's massively bothered

:34:24. > :34:27.by that at this time. I certainly think he feels another Grand Slam

:34:28. > :34:28.title is out of his reach and that mindset has changed now, no

:34:29. > :35:02.question. Dominant play from Chardy, supported

:35:03. > :35:18.by his fiancee, in the checked shirt .

:35:19. > :35:30.That is the tactic. Leon Smith liked seeing that. You need good depth and

:35:31. > :35:35.paste to that approach shot for it to be an effective play. A good

:35:36. > :35:41.enough serve to set it up beforehand.

:35:42. > :36:22.Kyle Edmonds and Clark on the bench. The two younger lads will look to

:36:23. > :36:29.Edmund and thinking what a position he is in. Ten three macro would have

:36:30. > :36:34.played had there been an injury. The way Clark is going, at 18 years of

:36:35. > :37:06.age when he will be in this team in the future with any luck.

:37:07. > :37:18.That was clever from Chardy. From that ability of the upper body to

:37:19. > :37:22.change the angle is deceptive. Such a subconscious ability of knowing

:37:23. > :38:17.the surface. Knowing wrong footing Evans, he would have had no chance.

:38:18. > :38:25.That was great work from Evans. The minute he had the opportunity to

:38:26. > :38:32.retake centre ground and reclaim position at the baseline, here he is

:38:33. > :38:33.too deep. Now he is able to step in. The first of those forehands really

:38:34. > :38:53.worked for him. It is slim pickings, isn't it? This

:38:54. > :38:58.is the thing. The occasional point, the occasional sequence of points.

:38:59. > :39:07.The first set has gone to France and Chardy is not backing off. Is there

:39:08. > :39:12.anything else you would like to see from Dan Evans? Anything more he

:39:13. > :39:19.could realistically do? I think he is moving in the direction I was

:39:20. > :39:23.thinking. He is slicing to match. There is not enough commitment to

:39:24. > :39:31.the slides. In the last few games we have seen him step back from the

:39:32. > :39:35.baseline and little bit too hit a few backhands. From an offensive

:39:36. > :39:39.position you take a choice as to whether you want to hit an

:39:40. > :39:43.aggressive slice or come over it again put it is a tough assignment.

:39:44. > :39:50.He is thinking all the time about how he can find his feet and get a

:39:51. > :39:57.footing in this match. We have talked about that given his lack of

:39:58. > :40:02.clay-court play. Chardy has been very impressive. He is an offensive

:40:03. > :40:08.player that he looks so comfortable. He does. And he talked about his

:40:09. > :40:18.excellent win in Miami over Marin Cilic. Before that, he played a top

:40:19. > :40:23.ten player at the Indian Wells. No disgrace losing that one for the

:40:24. > :40:39.quarterfinals of Montpellier, lost to Nishikori. In Doha, he lost to

:40:40. > :40:43.Murray in the first round. The times he has left a tournament early are

:40:44. > :40:47.times when he has come across a really top layer. That is hard when

:40:48. > :40:55.your ranking is where he is. You're never going to get seeded, even at a

:40:56. > :41:15.500, 250 events, you are probably not going to get seeded.

:41:16. > :41:29.That makes the fact that Evans, 44 in the world, all the more

:41:30. > :41:31.impressive. Masters Series event on the clay. He will be in Rome and

:41:32. > :41:52.Madrid. He will be gracing those famous old

:41:53. > :42:00.clay courts with play like that. Rome and Madrid this year from Sharm

:42:01. > :42:02.el-Sheikh two years ago and a $10,000 total prize pool. That is a

:42:03. > :42:22.proper journey. What was interesting, talking to

:42:23. > :42:29.Leon Smith yesterday, coming from where he has come from and barely

:42:30. > :42:33.playing on clay at all, not at all last season, every single win this

:42:34. > :42:39.year will count in his favour ranking point wise.

:42:40. > :42:47.And, of course, they'd talk about it a lot in tennis with the way the

:42:48. > :42:53.ranking system in tournament is set up. When you are in those big

:42:54. > :43:02.tournaments, one win, two wins is a lot of points. He does not need to

:43:03. > :43:07.get to quarterfinals, semifinals, to make a difference. Everything helps.

:43:08. > :43:12.He is trying to climb up as high as he can. I am not suggesting he will

:43:13. > :43:15.get to the latter stages of the tournament by giving his experience

:43:16. > :43:16.on the surface, but it is a challenge and he is looking forward

:43:17. > :43:54.to it. A slightly strange bounce?

:43:55. > :44:01.Absolutely shocking. We saw a few of those in the previous match. I am

:44:02. > :45:42.not sure you could say that is a bounce, more of a role.

:45:43. > :45:47.I think that might have been the first shot where he actually looked

:45:48. > :46:40.a little bit rushed. He was just grateful to have a

:46:41. > :46:44.chance to execute the pre-match tactics.

:46:45. > :47:09.Get in wherever possible on the second serve. Still game point.

:47:10. > :47:19.And there again an illustration of just how tough this court can be.

:47:20. > :47:23.You have your tactics. One more point goes by and you barely get a

:47:24. > :47:30.racket on the ball and the game has gone. Mentally, you have to keep it

:47:31. > :47:38.together for so long, just to grind these matches at, on this surface

:47:39. > :47:45.more than any other. When the two players are out there, the mental

:47:46. > :47:48.battle and the mental game. The setback, it really makes a

:47:49. > :47:53.difference in these matches. The surface is an interesting point.

:47:54. > :48:00.With the way tennis has gone over the last five, six, seven years, in

:48:01. > :48:04.terms of the surfaces have all become closer and there is less

:48:05. > :48:09.variety on the surface. This is a great illustration. For British

:48:10. > :48:19.players, you have Kyle Edmonds and Dan Evans. If you put Dan Evans on

:48:20. > :48:23.our hard-core he would hit a lot of forehand winners. Bring him on here

:48:24. > :48:27.when the bounce is suddenly at shoulder height, head high, compared

:48:28. > :49:47.to waist height, it really does make a difference.

:49:48. > :50:17.He is trying. He is really trying. Nothing is working in this game.

:50:18. > :50:25.Well called. That just about sums up that game from an Evans point of

:50:26. > :50:51.view. A break of serve to love. Chardy, the London residence, firmly

:50:52. > :51:14.in control. Another little link he has with

:51:15. > :51:23.Britain, his coach since 2013 used to work for the LTA. Would have had

:51:24. > :53:10.plenty of contact with Dan Evans at that time, the Swedish player.

:53:11. > :53:20.This Davis Cup quarterfinal, the fourth year in the -- a row that

:53:21. > :53:27.Britain had made this stage. Playing for the right to meet either Serbia

:53:28. > :53:29.or Spain in the semifinals. Serbia have gone 1-0 up in that tie with

:53:30. > :53:41.Djokovic winning. Djokovic returning to action in the

:53:42. > :53:49.Davis Cup after injury. That is really unusual.

:53:50. > :53:56.Belgium are 1-0 up against Italy. Belgium are the finalists from two

:53:57. > :54:13.years ago. Australia is already 2-0 up on USA. Nick Kyrgios as well. He

:54:14. > :54:19.beat John Isner. We are hearing as well that Marcus Baghdatis, the

:54:20. > :54:31.Cypriot player, he is a man with a phenomenal Davis Cup record. He is

:54:32. > :54:33.the one while class player and his lowly level has actually lost.

:54:34. > :54:43.Cyprus are playing Tunisia. 36 matches in a row Baghdatis had

:54:44. > :55:07.one. Well done to his opponent. We have talked a lot about this

:55:08. > :55:11.competition at this level, the world group, the elite level. Worth

:55:12. > :55:12.reminding that the Davis Cup happens on these weekends in pretty much

:55:13. > :55:27.every nation of the world. Certainly on every continent. A

:55:28. > :55:36.truly global sport, tennis. The Davis Cup goes down many internal

:55:37. > :55:40.divisions. Always great to look at some of the pictures of some of the

:55:41. > :55:47.great matches around the world, some of the remote locations. It is

:55:48. > :55:51.matches such as this, Great Britain against France, which bring in the

:55:52. > :55:56.television revenue, bring in the sponsorship, which helps to fund the

:55:57. > :56:01.competition in all those removed outposts, which helps to grow the

:56:02. > :56:12.game of tennis. That is often the scene side of the Davis Cup. -- the

:56:13. > :56:43.unseen side. Well played! Still in there fighting.

:56:44. > :56:50.That was just long. No doubt from the umpire, confirming the call of

:56:51. > :56:58.the line judge. Evans is keeping it to a single rake in this set. The

:56:59. > :57:02.way it was going, is really could have rapidly ran away from him. It

:57:03. > :57:08.could have been an absolute nightmare for Dan Evans. He is

:57:09. > :57:12.making the second set competitive. It came at an unfortunate time. We

:57:13. > :57:21.felt Evans was finding his feet and is getting more comfortable. Really,

:57:22. > :58:13.the break of serve went in a flash, didn't it? Out of nowhere.

:58:14. > :58:20.Chardy is getting so much working spin on his forehand, especially

:58:21. > :59:19.when he pulls it into the Evans forehand. Such a high bounce.

:59:20. > :59:29.I am in pain just watching the service action of Chardy when he

:59:30. > :00:19.chucks the ball out wide. It is fantastic.

:00:20. > :00:27.The racket has gone from Evans at the end of set two foot up so much

:00:28. > :00:32.frustration. Look how deep he is on the return and it allows Chardy the

:00:33. > :00:38.extra angle. His skill with the forehand. Jeremy Chardy a couple of

:00:39. > :00:44.weeks ago was no end near the French team. He has been drafted in and has

:00:45. > :00:50.rewarded captain Yannick Noah with a fine performance. France, having won

:00:51. > :00:55.the first rubber as well have won five set out of five today. They are

:00:56. > :01:09.firmly in charge of this Davis Cup recount. -- weekend.

:01:10. > :01:17.It will make captain Noah incredibly happy. 20 ties as captain. He's won

:01:18. > :01:23.15, lost only five. What a record that is. It's his third spell as

:01:24. > :01:41.captain. He first took the job in 1991. France won it in 91 with Forge

:01:42. > :01:47.and Le Comte. Beating the US team of Pete Sampras. And in 1991 they won

:01:48. > :01:52.in Malmo. Really exciting fun that year.

:01:53. > :01:58.They haven't won the Davis Cup since 2001. Which is quite a long wait in

:01:59. > :01:59.16 years. So Noah would love nothing more than leading his team to

:02:00. > :02:14.another success. Getting a Triple Crown of victories.

:02:15. > :02:19.There is the French President. One eye to the big screen, sir. Yeah,

:02:20. > :02:31.make sure you're on camera. Go on, give us another one. Leading the

:02:32. > :02:35.way, leading the home support. Well he doesn't have any problem

:02:36. > :02:39.getting people playing the game in this country. That's why they have

:02:40. > :02:47.so many coming through the ranks. 11 players in the top 100.

:02:48. > :02:58.One thing he could do is just chivvy them along a little on Roland

:02:59. > :03:02.Garros. We have heard about the development stages over 15 years, I

:03:03. > :03:11.reckon. The US have beaten them to it! But not much happens here very

:03:12. > :03:16.quickly. Especially when it comes to sporting

:03:17. > :03:21.facilities. There's a gentle a pace of life to

:03:22. > :03:27.Roland Garros. And very beneficial for it in many respects. Well, here

:03:28. > :03:33.we are in Normandy and Evans is serving to stay in the match.

:03:34. > :03:37.And it's hello again to John Lloyd. Not much going right for Britain

:03:38. > :06:28.this afternoon, John. No.

:06:29. > :06:36.It seems the French player has so much time on this court against Dan

:06:37. > :06:38.Evans. His strokes are not coming through the court enough. It's too

:06:39. > :06:59.slow for him. And with that mishit which actually

:07:00. > :07:07.lands next to Leon Smith on the bench. And here's the break down in

:07:08. > :07:16.the third set having lost the first two sets. Here is a guy, 44th in the

:07:17. > :07:22.world who has come from absolute tennis oblivion to reach the top 50.

:07:23. > :07:30.And these are good times for British tennis. Three men inside the top

:07:31. > :07:36.506789 Michael Downe, there he is, he is departing to head back to his

:07:37. > :07:42.native Canada after Wimbledon but he has presided over a period of

:07:43. > :07:49.relative success. It must be said. Three in the top 50. Jo Konta doing

:07:50. > :07:58.incredible things including the incredible Vic in Miami. Undoubtedly

:07:59. > :08:06.the best success for British women since Virginia wade in 1967.

:08:07. > :08:09.I know that there will be some people in British tennis, not

:08:10. > :08:35.entirably in favour of what Michael Downie's been doing

:08:36. > :08:38.for British tennis. But we do wish hill well for his time back in

:08:39. > :08:50.Canada. Oh, well played! It's just a mixture

:08:51. > :08:55.of mostly... Well, you see flashes of brilliance from Dan Evans, odd

:08:56. > :09:00.points here and there but he just can't do it enough against a the

:09:01. > :09:11.Frenchman who seems so much in control.

:09:12. > :09:18.And you see Dan Evans playing to impose himself. To play the match

:09:19. > :09:22.like it's another surface, the problem is your opponent has to

:09:23. > :09:25.allow you to do that, that is what Chardy hasn't done. The serve's been

:09:26. > :09:47.heavy, the forehand high and deep. Yeah, the high bounce, John, it's

:09:48. > :09:50.something we were talking about earlier with Jamie Baker. That's

:09:51. > :09:55.tough, isn't it. Very tough.

:09:56. > :09:58.Against a tall opponent who plays with such excessive spin. It is

:09:59. > :10:02.something that is so hard to see on the TV about how difficult that is

:10:03. > :10:17.to deal with the high spinning balls.

:10:18. > :10:26.There, how can he really do anything on that second serve. He wanted to

:10:27. > :10:30.do it but how can he when it is almost over your head almost. The

:10:31. > :10:35.only person doing that this year is Federer. He seems to have improved

:10:36. > :10:42.his backhand, especially down the line. He's played against Rafael

:10:43. > :10:46.Nadal twice and Federer has been taking the forehand on the rice and

:10:47. > :10:51.smashing it down the line time after time. I think he is playing it

:10:52. > :11:13.better than he did even in had is 20s!

:11:14. > :11:20.Wasted time he says there. He is disagreeing with the camp about the

:11:21. > :11:25.way he should be playing this match. But of course, that's frustration

:11:26. > :11:29.more than anything else. I was thinking him that.

:11:30. > :11:34.They are feeding him instructions. But he is getting beating. He wants

:11:35. > :11:37.to carry out something different, obviously in his mind. But it is not

:11:38. > :12:01.the right way to do it. In the end to serve-volley on a hard

:12:02. > :12:04.court, that ball would have gone through the court faster for Dan

:12:05. > :12:12.Evans to serve-volley. This one seems to sit. He seems to have so

:12:13. > :12:16.much time to play the backhand down. Look, Dan Evans can't even get into

:12:17. > :12:20.the service line behind that serve. What happens is the inevitable, then

:12:21. > :12:25.you force too much. That's what Dan Evans is doing now.

:12:26. > :12:31.You have to take chances. More so now. Take the ball early on the

:12:32. > :12:37.rice. Inside the baseline. He might as well. He's only going to walk off

:12:38. > :13:40.the court losing anyway, the way it's going.

:13:41. > :13:48.You can see the difference. Arc of the ball on the forehand, the

:13:49. > :13:53.height, whether it bounces over from Chardy. He has grown up on clay.

:13:54. > :13:58.Dan Evans's has a flatter ball. It doesn't have the height. See the arc

:13:59. > :14:00.of that ball going over the net. It lands deep, then you have to play a

:14:01. > :14:52.defensive shot. Well, little victories. Little

:14:53. > :14:56.victories. That is one for Evans. Because at 15-30, it seemed like you

:14:57. > :15:02.were suggesting there was no point being out there. But he will fight.

:15:03. > :15:07.He's a proud man, he's not going to let down his captain or country. But

:15:08. > :15:12.like in any sport, when it is not going your way, it can give the

:15:13. > :15:16.impression that you've given up. He hasn't given up at all. But at

:15:17. > :15:23.the moment, you can see the body language. There is not too much

:15:24. > :15:28.interaction. Leon is pulling back, not saying too much. I think that is

:15:29. > :15:34.wise. Because what has been said has not worked. It is not because of

:15:35. > :15:41.Dan's tactics but because of the opponent. So, he is sitting back,

:15:42. > :15:45.thinking you know what to do. Other than encouragement, don't say too

:15:46. > :15:52.much. Sometimes captaining talk to much. Sometimes you have to button

:15:53. > :15:56.up and let the player take responsibility for his own actions.

:15:57. > :16:00.Had ewas getting frustrated there. But he is giving him a bit of

:16:01. > :16:05.encouragement. That's all. Let him figure it out for a couple of games.

:16:06. > :16:10.Otherwise he has someone he can use as an excuse in the corner. This way

:16:11. > :16:26.he has to man up and take on the responsibility for himself.

:16:27. > :16:45.Now take this early. I know it's a big serve but...

:16:46. > :16:51.That second serve was a classic example of what we've been talking

:16:52. > :16:55.about. He retreated to almost wait for the ball to come down from the

:16:56. > :17:01.arc but actually it was still rising. To wait for it, he would

:17:02. > :17:05.have been up against the back boards with the line judges.

:17:06. > :17:11.Exactly. I think come over it early or hit the slice early.

:17:12. > :18:43.That's a good shot. Yep.

:18:44. > :19:00.See I think you almost have to play this match, and I'm not saying he is

:19:01. > :19:04.anywhere near as good but something like how Andre Agassi, diagonally

:19:05. > :19:09.cutting the ball off before the ball gets up high enough and then cutting

:19:10. > :19:19.off the angle. He feels he is pressing. Now, do you have to be

:19:20. > :19:28.good to do that? Yes! Very good! But why not, Dan's got good hands.

:19:29. > :19:37.That's just too good. That's classy play by the Frenchman

:19:38. > :19:43.there. You're right, John. He has the hand

:19:44. > :19:55.skills. He's one of the very best in terms of his flexibility.

:19:56. > :20:11.Stay there... There he set himself up and made a bad shot but at least

:20:12. > :20:16.he was giving himself a chance there. But you have to execute. If

:20:17. > :20:39.you don't do that, then obviously you're wasting your time.

:20:40. > :20:47.Again you have to admire him easily it is not easy, when you are getting

:20:48. > :20:57.well beaten to charge yourself to the net like that. Leave your

:20:58. > :21:03.opponent's target. Noah looks like he is correct being

:21:04. > :21:07.Chardy. Whatever you say about Dan Evans'

:21:08. > :21:12.performance, he may not have played as well as perhaps he could have but

:21:13. > :21:30.there is only so much you can do. And Chardy has been brilliant.

:21:31. > :21:43.Oh, hello! Well for a second or so, Evans' big challenge was just to get

:21:44. > :21:51.out of the way of this one. Yep. Some of my friends in Florida,

:21:52. > :21:59.they get hit by those regularly like that. I do tell them sometimes the

:22:00. > :22:04.pros do it, not often. One in 100 but it is there. I will have to show

:22:05. > :22:27.them that when I get back to the States.

:22:28. > :23:14.Bold with the serve, Evans. Two break points in the game.

:23:15. > :23:21.Well he hasn't had much to roar about, Evans but trying to give

:23:22. > :23:26.himself as much encouragement as possible. That is a good effort to

:23:27. > :23:32.hold from that position. 0-40 in the game. Still fighting away, Dan

:23:33. > :23:37.Evans, who has a lot to reflect on in this competition. He's played for

:23:38. > :23:44.a number of years now at all sorts of different levels. His biggest

:23:45. > :23:50.results in 2012, 2013, he won against Klizan to secure a 3-2 win

:23:51. > :23:56.in that tie. And has been in a deciding rubber in the following

:23:57. > :24:01.year, the Coventry tie, the Russia tie at Coventry. Which many people

:24:02. > :24:06.have opportunitied to as real turning point in Britain's Davis Cup

:24:07. > :24:10.history. Had they lost that one they would have been down again.

:24:11. > :24:14.That was big. And then the rise to winning it two

:24:15. > :24:18.years ago started there. That match you spoke about, is when

:24:19. > :24:22.everybody expected Andy Murray to play and then the team came through

:24:23. > :24:27.when they really looked like they were not going to. The rise started.

:24:28. > :24:33.They had lost that match and gone back.

:24:34. > :24:38.It was Ward and Evans. Exactly. They came back from looking like they had

:24:39. > :24:42.no chance of winning it. That was a turning point. A momentum started

:24:43. > :24:47.there. And winning in 2015, he wasn't a

:24:48. > :24:53.member of the team in Belgium. And he didn't win a rubber in the

:24:54. > :25:02.run to the title. But he did have a roll because in the semi-final he

:25:03. > :25:04.pushed Bernard Tomic hard to the point he offered little resistance

:25:05. > :25:19.against Andy Murray in the fourth match.

:25:20. > :25:27.We may not have won the Davis Cup that year, if it had not been for

:25:28. > :25:33.Ward's win against Isner. What a victory that was in the first round

:25:34. > :25:40.at Glasgow. Definitely.

:25:41. > :25:45.He must have amazing flexibility and stomach muscles. Some of the second

:25:46. > :25:48.serves he has rescued. Wow you would not think it was humanly possible to

:25:49. > :26:12.keep that serve in but he does. Again, it's resistance up to a

:26:13. > :26:17.pinted certainly brave resistance but like you've been saying, John,

:26:18. > :26:19.what can you do? What can you do? For a tall man, his footwork is

:26:20. > :26:41.decent, isn't it? Very good. He's certainly looking at his

:26:42. > :26:43.performance today, and you would think he will be moving up the

:26:44. > :27:35.rankings this year. A nice little wrong footer there

:27:36. > :28:48.with the sliced serve. See on clay, that's not good enough

:28:49. > :28:55.but on another surface, he may have gotten away with it. But on a

:28:56. > :28:59.clay-court, you go out cross-court, the obvious play but Yew got to hit

:29:00. > :29:00.it much better than that. It gives too much time to hit the passing

:29:01. > :29:34.shot. It's such a heavy forehand. Three

:29:35. > :29:39.feet behind the baseline when he hit that. One inch off the line with

:29:40. > :29:58.that height jumping at you. A different flight in the ball.

:29:59. > :30:06.Brave! And again, you know a sign of the defendant touch that he

:30:07. > :30:11.possesses. The hand skills! You watch him in

:30:12. > :30:12.practice, sometimes, you think you're watching the world number one

:30:13. > :30:18.playing. Yep.

:30:19. > :30:27.And that's why it's been so good art start of this year to see the sort

:30:28. > :30:33.of results... The sort of results to suggest that he is at home in that

:30:34. > :30:37.sort of company, reaching his first ATP final in Sydney, we haven't

:30:38. > :30:43.mentioned that yet. The fourth round of the Australian Open. Big results

:30:44. > :30:44.at the very top level that Dan Evans has had in the last couple of

:30:45. > :30:53.months. That's why we have to keep the

:30:54. > :31:00.perspective here. It's the same sport, but in a way it's a different

:31:01. > :31:05.sport. This is not a fair reflection of the ability of Dan Evans. Can't

:31:06. > :32:09.wait to see him on the hard courts later in the year.

:32:10. > :32:16.The second service game in a row Evans saves a break point and holds

:32:17. > :32:27.on. I'm sure that's one of the things

:32:28. > :32:38.that Leon Smith is saying, you know, just keep him out there for as long

:32:39. > :32:46.as you can. You just never know. Inglot and Marian might turn it on

:32:47. > :32:50.tomorrow. Kyle Edmund might play the match of his life, 2-2. No it's

:32:51. > :32:54.Evans first on Sunday. I keep forgetting that. He is the number

:32:55. > :33:00.one this weekend. Any way, you might play the match here live on Sunday!

:33:01. > :33:06.Then it's 2-2. Then Chardy's required again. Yeah keep him out

:33:07. > :33:09.there. Keep the legs pounding. Sometimes you just literally have to

:33:10. > :33:16.say hang in there. You never know what can happen. One thing with Dan

:33:17. > :33:20.Evans, you have to say his body language has been good. A couple of

:33:21. > :33:24.times he's got frustrated, when he's come round the changeover, whatever.

:33:25. > :33:26.His head's never dropped. It still looks like there some sort of belief

:33:27. > :34:17.in him. It's not always easily apparent to

:34:18. > :34:21.see the effort. You could certainly hear the effort from Evans.

:34:22. > :34:56.Just too good. Certainly the first 30-30 Evans has

:34:57. > :36:14.had since the first set. Again, exceptional volley. Richard

:36:15. > :36:18.Gasquet watching on in approval. He did well here, Evans, to get this

:36:19. > :36:20.ball down low from that position. One heck of a volley. Made him work,

:36:21. > :37:31.though. That's all you can do. He really has hit the ball sweetly.

:37:32. > :37:42.A couple off the frame, OK. But generally speaking the world number

:37:43. > :37:46.68... Is well on his way to victory here. Justifying his captain's team

:37:47. > :37:47.selection. Jeremy Chardy, 30 years of age, with his British girlfriend

:37:48. > :38:27.there. The French crowd have really enjoyed

:38:28. > :38:31.this performance by Chardy. There's another backhand to savour. After an

:38:32. > :39:17.hour and 49 minutes, it brings up two match points.

:39:18. > :39:40.A perfect six for France. Six sets out of six on day one. A it-0 lead

:39:41. > :39:48.in the tie. -- a 2-0 lead in the tie and really the perfect day for

:39:49. > :39:51.France. A smile from Jeremy Chardy. A mag any sent performance. His

:39:52. > :40:01.first Davis Cup appearance in six years. Might not be the last on that

:40:02. > :40:09.evidence. You were right to pick me, skipper. Yannick Noah's brave

:40:10. > :40:12.decision to drop Gilles Simon, the higher ranked player and draft in

:40:13. > :40:32.Jeremy Chardy, based on form. 6-2, 6-3, 6-3, Chardy's victory over

:40:33. > :40:37.Evans to add to Lucas Pouille 7-5, 7-6, 6-3 win over Kyle Edmund.

:40:38. > :40:41.France lead the tie 2-0, needing just one more rubber to secure the

:40:42. > :40:45.tie and take their place in the semifinals. That could be tomorrow,

:40:46. > :40:49.when Mahut and Benneteau will start as favourites for the doubles as

:40:50. > :40:56.against Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot. Whatever happens, France in

:40:57. > :41:07.firm control of this Davis Cup quarter final. If it wasn't a

:41:08. > :41:11.challenge for Britain on the clay of Rouen before today, it is now. We

:41:12. > :41:15.knew it would be a tough day today, first your thoughts on Kyle's match?

:41:16. > :41:20.Obviously, he actually started well, looked confident on the court.

:41:21. > :41:26.Pouille did a good job at getting back in in the set and started to

:41:27. > :41:31.establish his authority. Just one sloppy service game. Then the second

:41:32. > :41:37.set, I really thought that Kyle done a good job in that breaker to get

:41:38. > :41:41.the lead. Could have played slightly more aggressively at that stage, in

:41:42. > :41:46.the breaker, maybe. He did a good job to establish the lead. Then he

:41:47. > :41:51.probably got a bit disheartened in the third set and Pouille became

:41:52. > :41:55.freer and was able to show us why he made a couple of quarters in slams

:41:56. > :41:58.last year. The match just finished, Dan hasn't played much clay court

:41:59. > :42:05.tennis, again your thoughts? Not much, none. I think the one thing I

:42:06. > :42:08.have a lot of respect for Dan is he fights with everything he's got. He

:42:09. > :42:11.loves playing for his country. He did it again today. His game, you

:42:12. > :42:18.know, he needs more time on the clay. That is obvious. We needed a

:42:19. > :42:25.win from Kyle just to get us into the weekend. That would allow at

:42:26. > :42:28.least almost a free run of getting a free match on clay. It's not

:42:29. > :42:32.transpired that way. Swre to do it the -- we have to do it the

:42:33. > :42:36.difficult way. Does it come down to belief a lot? Physically, he's a top

:42:37. > :42:40.50 player now, he's a very, very good player. But maybe the lack of

:42:41. > :42:47.play maybe leads to a bit of lack of commitment on certain shots? I think

:42:48. > :42:50.the thing with it is we had a couple of weeks practice, but it's not the

:42:51. > :42:54.same as playing a match. That's the thing, you can do as many practice

:42:55. > :42:59.sets as you want. He needs to figure out a way - it's not easy when

:43:00. > :43:02.you've not played on it - he plays differently on it. Even the slice,

:43:03. > :43:06.it doesn't go through the court enough. Jeremy hits the ball so big

:43:07. > :43:10.with the forehand. He has time to set up. He pecks the side he --

:43:11. > :43:14.picks the side he wants to go to. As the season goes on, he will make a

:43:15. > :43:18.flatter slice through the ball, staying lower and then he'll have to

:43:19. > :43:21.figure out how to cope with someone kicking into his backhand. Sometimes

:43:22. > :43:24.coming back playing high and heavy. Sometimes stepping in and use the

:43:25. > :43:28.forehand to jab it as well as the slicer. He has a few pieces of the

:43:29. > :43:33.puzzle. He needs to figure out - and he will - he got better every set.

:43:34. > :43:38.But he just needs more time on it. You've got to say fair play to

:43:39. > :43:43.Jeremy as well. He hits the ball Macten on that forehand. He always

:43:44. > :43:46.does well at Roland Garros. He has a good clay court game. He was too

:43:47. > :43:49.strong today. That's the bottom line. Thanks. All the best for

:43:50. > :43:54.tomorrow. Thank you. STUDIO: He really does have an

:43:55. > :44:02.uphill battle now, 2-0, they've yet to win a set here in Rouen. Terrific

:44:03. > :44:08.performances from Lucas Pouille and Jeremy Chardy today. 2-0 down and

:44:09. > :44:12.down to the doubles now to keep the tie alive. That is tomorrow, John

:44:13. > :44:17.Lloyd is joining me. You were up there watching it, Chardy came out

:44:18. > :44:22.of the blocks and just boom, bash. The big serve, big forehand. He

:44:23. > :44:25.didn't give Dan any time. No, it was all right what we talked about

:44:26. > :44:29.earlier on, about what Dan should do or what he's going to do. You have

:44:30. > :44:33.to have your opponent make that happen. Of course, Chardy was so

:44:34. > :44:38.heavy, his serve was big. The forehand was get soing high -- so

:44:39. > :44:42.high. Dan could never take the ball early and put him under pressure. He

:44:43. > :44:45.was pushed further back, wider angles and there was only one

:44:46. > :44:49.winner. Chardy, tremendous performance for him. A lot of

:44:50. > :44:52.pressure on him coming out here. He hadn't played Davis Cup for a while.

:44:53. > :44:57.In a time where everybody expects to win. The pressure was not as much on

:44:58. > :45:01.him because he had a 1-0 lead. He will move up the rankings if he

:45:02. > :45:06.keeps playing like that. Unbeaten in the Davis Cup. He's played four and

:45:07. > :45:10.won four. Justified, a brave decision by Yannick Noah to drop

:45:11. > :45:18.Gilles Simon and put Chardy in, who's ranged 68 in the world, but

:45:19. > :45:22.playing like a top 20 player. Sometimes players play better in

:45:23. > :45:24.matches than in practice. Noah was impressed with him. Liked his

:45:25. > :45:28.attitude and confidence and his game. He looks so good there. It was

:45:29. > :45:33.difficult to see how Dan could hurt him. He could have been out here all

:45:34. > :45:37.day. You put that on a green court with the grass, or something

:45:38. > :45:45.elsewhere the ball is lower, maybe. But on this court it could have gone

:45:46. > :45:48.on forever and not won that one. Our winner is with Jamie.

:45:49. > :45:51.Congratulations, talk us through your week and when did you find out

:45:52. > :45:55.when you were going to be playing? I find out just the night before you

:45:56. > :45:59.guys. So it was a surprise a little bit for me. I was practising really

:46:00. > :46:05.well. I was giving 100% every practice. Yannick Noah told me, you

:46:06. > :46:09.play really well. You feel the ball well. I trust you and I want you to

:46:10. > :46:13.go on court. I was really happy. For me, amazing moment because last year

:46:14. > :46:16.was really difficult. I am just enjoying tonight. You looked like

:46:17. > :46:20.you were very comfortable from the first point, is that how it felt for

:46:21. > :46:25.you? Was it as easy as it looked? No, I was feeling well. I mean, you

:46:26. > :46:31.know, when you're a tennis player you get the confidence and practice

:46:32. > :46:36.too. I was practising really hard the last two months, so I'm happy to

:46:37. > :46:40.feel great on court again. I was starting to play really well and

:46:41. > :46:44.today again. You put the team 2-0 up, what does the team do to stay

:46:45. > :46:48.focussed and relaxed for the doubles tomorrow? I mean, it's not over.

:46:49. > :46:51.They have a really good double. We have a good double too. It will be a

:46:52. > :46:59.difficult match tomorrow. But I think we can win. With Lucas we will

:47:00. > :47:04.stay focussed for Sunday. Thank you. Thank you so much. Wonderful how

:47:05. > :47:07.he's playing, age of 30. What is it about the 30 somethings, we've been

:47:08. > :47:12.watching Nadal and Federer. This guy is rejuvenated. His highest world

:47:13. > :47:17.ranking is 25. He looks to be heading back up there. It's amazing.

:47:18. > :47:20.It sounded that interview that Yannick kept him quiet about

:47:21. > :47:24.playing. He didn't give warning. He didn't have time to get too nervous.

:47:25. > :47:27.Ready to play. It's one thing playing well in practice. It's a

:47:28. > :47:31.different thing to transfer to a match. That's what I was wondering,

:47:32. > :47:36.whether he would be tight and give Dan a chance to get in the match. He

:47:37. > :47:41.didn't. I thought his game plan was brilliant. Dan wanted to be

:47:42. > :47:46.aggressive, wasn't allowed to. He pinned him further and further back.

:47:47. > :47:49.A fabulous performance. When you have big weapons, and you're playing

:47:50. > :47:53.well, it's difficult for Dan Evans to find a way into that match. I

:47:54. > :47:57.agree. We said something in the commentary box towards the end, he

:47:58. > :48:00.could have taken the ball earlier and taken chances, pinned himself on

:48:01. > :48:03.the baseline and tried to take the ball on the rise. Easy to say that

:48:04. > :48:07.when you're watching. Because the ball is coming up so high. Every

:48:08. > :48:10.time he allowed himself to get pushed back deep, after that, Chardy

:48:11. > :48:15.took control of the rally and was running him side to side. It was

:48:16. > :48:18.really a master class. As far as Dan is concerned, it's difficult when

:48:19. > :48:22.you're being pushed behind the baseline to try and find anything to

:48:23. > :48:25.do. Because he's more of a counterpuncher, he's not used to

:48:26. > :48:30.making things happen. Exactly. He's used to the faster courts where he

:48:31. > :48:33.can make the pace. There is the case there on the forehand volley on hard

:48:34. > :48:37.courts, that ball would have gone away. He would have had a chance. On

:48:38. > :48:42.clay it sat up. Chardy had plenty of time. Look how deep the return was.

:48:43. > :48:45.On the back foot all the time. Difficult to transfer that to

:48:46. > :48:49.attacking play. Well done to Chardy for keeping that pattern of play,

:48:50. > :48:54.keeping his moving and not giving him any time to get into the match.

:48:55. > :48:57.Pouille against Edmund, a couple of times in the match went off a bit,

:48:58. > :49:01.only for about five or six minutes, but enough for Kyle Edmund to think,

:49:02. > :49:05.I can win this match. Chardy today, his level never dropped at all from

:49:06. > :49:10.the moment he came out onto the court. He was solid, eager, firing

:49:11. > :49:14.the ball well, aggressive right from the start, there was no lapses of

:49:15. > :49:20.concentration. He played a tremendous match. The camaraderie,

:49:21. > :49:23.they love the Davis Cup. Yannick Noah has been saying, they're

:49:24. > :49:27.desperate to win it. They have such a strong squad. When you look at

:49:28. > :49:30.someone who wasn't even in the team, having lost four of their players.

:49:31. > :49:34.Good camaraderie on the tour as well. They all support each other.

:49:35. > :49:38.When you have that many players in the top 100, it's nice to have

:49:39. > :49:42.fellow countrymen with you. They support each other. What a team,

:49:43. > :49:46.they can rotate whenever they want and still have a first class team.

:49:47. > :49:49.Yannick Noah is a very charismatic captain. Let's hear what he has to

:49:50. > :49:52.say. Congratulations on a great day for

:49:53. > :49:58.France. Can you give us your thoughts on the tennis today? Well,

:49:59. > :50:03.it's Davis Cup, the first point, the first game was very important. We've

:50:04. > :50:08.been lucky, we won a couple of points, two, three points in the

:50:09. > :50:14.second set tie-breaker, in the first set we were ahead. Second set we

:50:15. > :50:19.were ahead. Then Kyle he came back. It came down to a couple points. I'm

:50:20. > :50:23.really happy that Luka won the second set. That was a key point of

:50:24. > :50:27.the day. What was the main reason that made you select Jeremy Chardy

:50:28. > :50:32.over Gilles Simon? Jeremy is naturally playing well on clay. If

:50:33. > :50:36.the match had been like maybe three or four weeks later, I think, it

:50:37. > :50:41.would have been a different situation. But all the players

:50:42. > :50:47.basically had one week to get ready for these conditions. It's not easy

:50:48. > :50:51.to come on clay. We could see our players, you know, they have a

:50:52. > :50:55.natural game for clay. Jeremy definitely has it. The way he played

:50:56. > :50:59.today, played every day in practice, he was very good. It was easy for me

:51:00. > :51:03.to choose him. Looking ahead to tomorrow, the fact that you're 2-0

:51:04. > :51:07.up, does that change your approach to the match at all? No, no, I'm

:51:08. > :51:13.always nervous. I can't relax, you know. Yes, I'm happy we're up 2-0.

:51:14. > :51:17.But there's an extra point to win. The doubles is a key one. We have

:51:18. > :51:21.Sunday, in case we need it. I'm trying to stay focussed, enjoy

:51:22. > :51:25.tonight, but be ready for tomorrow. Thanks, good luck. Thank you.

:51:26. > :51:31.You know the role of captain and how difficult it is. You were in an era

:51:32. > :51:34.when you had Tim and Greg and possibly Andy. When you have the

:51:35. > :51:38.amount of players he has to choose, from you can imagine the pressure

:51:39. > :51:41.he's put under by the federation and indeed the French fans. Of course.

:51:42. > :51:48.He's been called back again to be captain again. He's got a successful

:51:49. > :51:51.record career. He's sold millions of records, but he loves the game. He's

:51:52. > :51:54.already saying he's nervous about tomorrow already. He's so

:51:55. > :51:59.charismatic. He has such knowledge of the game. The French love him, as

:52:00. > :52:02.they should do. He's absolutely right talking about the match, the

:52:03. > :52:07.co-was the second set with Kyle Edmund -- key was the second set

:52:08. > :52:11.with Kyle Edmund in the tie-breaker. We will talk more about that in a

:52:12. > :52:13.moment. But as he was saying, tomorrow it is the doubles match.

:52:14. > :52:19.He's going to be nervous. We're going to be nervous as well. They

:52:20. > :52:22.have a very strong team in Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut against

:52:23. > :52:28.them for Britain, Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot. Let's hear what they

:52:29. > :52:32.had to say. In terms of your match on Saturday

:52:33. > :52:38.with Dominic Inglot, against a really interesting pair in Mahut and

:52:39. > :52:41.Benneteau, who played together decades ago as juniors, so much

:52:42. > :52:50.experience, which often isn't the case as a team in Davis Cup. Yeah, a

:52:51. > :52:55.lot of times, you know, guys are thrown together to play. Those guys

:52:56. > :53:01.played hundreds of matches together, won a bunch of tournaments over a

:53:02. > :53:07.period of time. Nico has been number one the last maybe six, seven months

:53:08. > :53:11.perhaps. He's been maying really well with Herbert. Benneteau,

:53:12. > :53:15.semifinal of Wimbledon last year and won Roland Garros. It's going to be

:53:16. > :53:19.a tough match, absolutely. But I think it's going to be a tough match

:53:20. > :53:23.for them too. I feel like with the French teams, they can all interlink

:53:24. > :53:29.and they just seem to seamlessly change back into different teams and

:53:30. > :53:32.play just as good with each one. We looked at, when I heard that Herbert

:53:33. > :53:38.was injured and who was going to be the replacement. I see it's

:53:39. > :53:40.Benneteau, I'm like, that's not that much different really. Extremely

:53:41. > :53:45.good. It's going to be a tough match for sure. Nico is a great player,

:53:46. > :53:52.being number one ranked for a while. So yeah, I think it's going to be

:53:53. > :53:55.tough, no doubt. On clay as well. But we've seen amazing results

:53:56. > :54:01.happen at Davis Cup, which you wouldn't expect. So anything can

:54:02. > :54:07.really go, just see how it pans out. I think we're a good team. We've got

:54:08. > :54:11.a lot of experience last year playing together. We played three

:54:12. > :54:17.ties. I think we know what each other is going to bring to the

:54:18. > :54:22.court. That helps. With the team around us, it's really, you know,

:54:23. > :54:26.we're fully prepared. We know what to expect. We're confident in our

:54:27. > :54:32.game plan. Yeah just get out there and do our best. We know roughly

:54:33. > :54:36.what to look for. It's just the little nuances which feels like

:54:37. > :54:40.Canada was so recent that I kind of can still remember some of the

:54:41. > :54:43.things that I needed to do better and what I could change in the

:54:44. > :54:47.match. If you haven't played for like a year, it can sometimes be

:54:48. > :54:53.more tricky. I think we'll be good out there. We can do well. Four very

:54:54. > :54:56.experienced doubles players going head to head tomorrow. It's a

:54:57. > :55:01.must-win match for Great Britain to keep the tie alive. We'll have it

:55:02. > :55:06.for you, BBC One tomorrow at 1. 10pm. Tonight at 7pm, highlights of

:55:07. > :55:12.the opening day of the Masters. That's on BBC Two. Tomorrow, from

:55:13. > :55:15.mid-day on BBC One, football focus, including looking at Bournemouth and

:55:16. > :55:19.Chelsea, Manchester City against Hull City. Plenty of sport to come

:55:20. > :55:24.on BBC television. Jamie joins us now. The doubles, four very

:55:25. > :55:28.experienced players, but on this surface you have to favour the

:55:29. > :55:31.French again. Yeah I would say they're 60-40, Dominic Inglot was

:55:32. > :55:36.saying there, it doesn't matter who they bring in, it's still a really

:55:37. > :55:42.good team with Mahut and Benneteau, both 35. On these occasions,

:55:43. > :55:47.especially with the French team and how strong it is, they will be

:55:48. > :55:50.loving it. It was nice to hear Jamie Murray say having played three

:55:51. > :55:53.marches with Dominic Inglot he feels there's a partnership, a bit of

:55:54. > :55:57.understanding. There's less uncertainty as to what each other is

:55:58. > :56:01.going to do. I think you're right, the Brits are not favourites for it.

:56:02. > :56:05.The British pair are very different. We've got Dom with the power and

:56:06. > :56:10.wonderful hands at the net, the great volleys of Jamie. They won't

:56:11. > :56:16.be easy to play. Dom's got a huge serve. Jamie not so much. But you

:56:17. > :56:20.have the reflexes, Dom is a big hitter on return. He sets up Jamie a

:56:21. > :56:24.lot. They're big guys. They have a big wing span at the net. They're

:56:25. > :56:27.not easy to pass. They hit great overheads. They are a tough

:56:28. > :56:31.combination. If they can get off early and fire and go for the ball,

:56:32. > :56:34.they've got a good shot. I just worry, it's clay. That's the worry.

:56:35. > :56:38.The ball is going to sit up a little bit more. The French boys are a

:56:39. > :56:42.tough team. It's the first Davis Cup tie I've seen when the crowd hasn't

:56:43. > :56:46.really been a factor. They haven't given the British fans anything to

:56:47. > :56:49.get involved in. They need to do that early, get a lead. I think so.

:56:50. > :56:53.The first two sets of that first singled they were very close. Kyle

:56:54. > :56:58.Edmund I could feel, sitting next to him on the court there, if he could

:56:59. > :57:02.have got that second set, at 5-2 serve is, there were a bank of

:57:03. > :57:07.British fans right by him. It just didn't happen. That really was the

:57:08. > :57:12.biggest moment of the day by miles, because at one set all, you think,

:57:13. > :57:15.have we got a match here. Two sets down and then Daniel Evans coming on

:57:16. > :57:22.for the next match, it was always going to be difficult. Chardy played

:57:23. > :57:26.fantastically well, a solid match. Dan never really look like he would

:57:27. > :57:29.really trouble him. He will think about that drop shot that Pouille

:57:30. > :57:32.played. You've been in the position of Leon Smith and he's got a lot of

:57:33. > :57:35.work to do. He's going to be squatted like the players, he's got

:57:36. > :57:39.to lift their spirits and make them believe again. It's never over. He

:57:40. > :57:43.has a very good doubles team. They'll have belief they can win.

:57:44. > :57:47.Anything can happen in two singles, you've got to keep the belief.

:57:48. > :57:51.You've got to win three rubbers, it's not over yet. You just hope

:57:52. > :57:54.that they'll come out tomorrow, because such a great chance if they

:57:55. > :57:58.can get back in it. It lifts the whole team. Tonight will be

:57:59. > :58:03.difficult to lift spirits. We knew it was going to be tough. Jamie

:58:04. > :58:07.Murray, Dominic Inglot very good. Jamie, John, thank you very much.

:58:08. > :58:10.That is it for today. 2-0 France lead. It's down to the doubles

:58:11. > :58:16.tomorrow. Will it be a British win? We'll find out. 1. 10pm, BBC One.

:58:17. > :58:20.Bye-bye. COMMENTATOR: Davis Cup challenge for

:58:21. > :58:27.this man Kyle Edmund. Oh, he's dangerous now. And that could be a

:58:28. > :58:39.decisive break for France in this opening set. That needed a big

:58:40. > :58:45.effort from Lucas Pouille. Yes! Fine, fine margins. Tennis for the

:58:46. > :58:49.connoisseur. Great work from Lucas Pouille. That was a dangerous match

:58:50. > :58:53.for him against the big hitting Kyle Edmund.

:58:54. > :59:00.Unreturnable and at the moment, unplayable. All over. The perfect

:59:01. > :59:03.six for France. Six sets out of six on day one.

:59:04. > :59:06.Whoo! This is what I call a proper playground.

:59:07. > :59:12.She's going to kill it. You're not going to make it.