France Favored to Win Davis Cup
The first round of the 2015 Davis Cup “World Group” stage begins this Friday, and of the 16 teams who have made it this far, France is the 2/1 favorite at press time to win the most prestigious international team event in men’s tennis. Serbia is second at 9/4, followed by Canada and the Czech Republic at 11/2. France hasn’t won the Davis Cup since 2001, but after making it all the way to the final last year, hopes are high for this year’s team. Unfortunately, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (forearm) is unavailable for the first-round matchup with Germany (33/1). Gael Monfils will join Gilles Simon, Richard Gasquet and Nicolas Mahut in Frankfurt, facing off against a German squad featuring World’s No. 25 Philipp Kohlschreiber. Canada has a relatively easy draw and the presence of both Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil. They’ll also have home-court advantage this weekend in Vancouver when they face Japan (50/1), who eliminated Canada 4-1 last year when Raonic and Pospisil were unavailable. Canada’s path to the title got easier when Roger Federer decided not to join the defending champions from Switzerland (7/1), who project to meet Canada in the quarterfinals after taking on Belgium (50/1).