Tsonga and Pouille lead France in Davis Cup against Serbia
PARIS (AP) - Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Lucas Pouille will lead France in singles play in the Davis Cup semifinals against Serbia.
France captain Yannick Noah selected the 12th-ranked Tsonga and 20th-ranked Pouille ahead of No. 22 Gael Monfils, who is named as a reserve.
Tsonga is 18-7 in career singles and Pouille is 3-1.
"Jo remains our No. 1, we spoke a few times on the phone," Noah said. "He told me he's motivated for this semi."
Noah added that Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon, who were overlooked, were both "disappointed, but they understood my choice."
Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut will play doubles at Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille from Sept. 15-17.
The countries have not met since the 2010 final, which Serbia won 3-2. But the Serbs will be without Novak Djokovic, who is skipping the rest of the season because of an injured right elbow.
"Djokovic pulling out is very good news for the (France) team," Noah said. "It's certain that we have much more of a chance."
France last reached the Davis Cup final in 2014, losing to Switzerland.
The winner will play Belgium or Australia in the final.