‘Clay’s best choice’

LILLE, France — France’s Davis Cup captain Lucas Pouille admitted on Monday that he had initially questioned the wisdom of choosing to stage this year’s final on clay.

France is looking to retain the trophy when it takes on Croatia at the end of the week on clay courts at the Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille where it won last year’s final against Belgium.

“It wasn’t obvious at first, I was not necessarily in favor of the clay,” said Pouille who leads a French side missing their top three ranked singles players, Richard Gasquet, Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils.

“At the end of the year, it isn’t easy to make in two, three weeks all the necessary preparation for this surface. There is a risk of injury caused by fatigue.”

The 24-year-old, who is ranked 32 in the world, quickly came round to the view of team captain Yannick Noah who felt the Croats would be weaker on clay than on hard courts.