 Photographer: Virginie Bouyer
Date: 18 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Virginie Bouyer
Date: 18 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Virginie Bouyer
Date: 18 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Virginie Bouyer
Date: 18 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Virginie Bouyer
Date: 18 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Virginie Bouyer
Date: 18 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Virginie Bouyer
Date: 18 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Virginie Bouyer
Date: 18 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Virginie Bouyer
Date: 18 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Virginie Bouyer
Date: 18 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Virginie Bouyer
Date: 18 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Virginie Bouyer
Date: 18 Sep 2009 |  Photographer: Virginie Bouyer
Date: 18 Sep 2009 |
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| 18 Sep 2009 - MECC, Maastricht - Michiel de Hoog - NED v FRA | |
| France draws level in Maastricht |
Netherlands and France are level at 1-1 after the first day of their World Group Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Play-off tie. After Thiemo De Bakker upset Gael Monfils in the first rubber, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga pulled the countries level with a predictable three set win against Jesse Huta Galung 76 62 76.
Against all expectations there is now at least one live singles rubber on Sunday. “One-all is not that bad and the matches on Sunday are going to count, which is good for the people of Maastricht,” said French captain Guy Forget.
Tsonga just too good
A second upset of the day was never in the making. Jesse Huta Galung hasn’t won a tennis match since April and even though he put in one of his better performances of this season, he had three set points in the third set, it was never good enough to trouble Tsonga. Both players play a direct, aggressive game but the difference was that Tsonga forced more errors of Huta Galung than vice versa. “I played like I usually do,” said Tsonga. “I reached my normal level.”
And that was easily enough to beat Huta Galung. “Jesse did what he had to do,” said Dutch captain Jan Siemerink. “He played his own game, which was good but just not good enough. There’s no shame in losing to a player like Tsonga. I did not see a player today who has lost his previous 14 matches.”
De Bakker celebrates best win of this career
While the French No. 1 recorded an unremarkable victory, his Dutch counterpart, Thiemo de Bakker, celebrated what he called ‘my best win in my career, for certain’. “I felt I was in control from the start, except maybe in the beginning of the fourth set. But I’m in the kind of state where I can turn that around, and that gives me a lot of confidence,” said de Bakker.
Meanwhile, Monfils could be seen holding his head in his hands pensively during the second match. He said he had ‘no excuses’ for his ‘shocking’ performance, describing it as ‘a blackout’, a ‘no match’ and ‘an old match’. “Shocking, yes. I wasn’t the warrior I usually can be in a match, but all credit to him, he played well,” said the Frenchman.
“If I get a short ball, he can expect a dropshot, it’s another option in his head,” explained de Bakker. “If Monfils hit a short ball I can hit to his backhand and subsequently go the net, but I can also hit a drop shot. I need to make him think about it.”
Research pays off for Dutchman
So while de Bakker lost some of the points he played drop shots in – Monfils chasing them down to score with cute, angled passing shots – he ended up winning some other points partly because Monfils had problems reading the Dutchman’s shots. “That’s the idea anyhow, and I think I did that well,” said de Bakker, who tried to keep the rallies short, ‘as Monfils likes to play long ones’.
“It wasn’t that bad, he shouldn’t be ashamed. You have to remember that de Bakker played a great match, worthy of a top-20 player. Against another of the Dutch players, Gaël probably would have done a whole lot better. He didn’t start very well, but that is only what can expected when someone plays their first Davis Cup match,” said Forget.
Monfils denied having felt any extra pressure but Forget seemed to disagree. “It’s difficult to prepare someone for a Davis Cup match. You can tell a guy to get in the plane, here’s your parachute, it’s no big deal, just jump, you have a parachute. But when the guy gets there, it’s different. He says ‘it’s too high, I’m not jumping’. Maybe that’s what happened to Gaël today.”
Related Links on other websites
> Information in Dutch
> Info en francais- FFT
Related Links on Daviscup.com
> Tie Information
> Scorecards and statistics from the tie
> Audio interviews from the tie
> De Bakker opens up for the Dutch
Related Audio
 Interview with Gael Monfils (FRA) - day 1
Interview with Thiemo de Bakker (NED) - day 1
Interview with Guy Forget (FRA) - day 1
 
If you cannot hear the audio, then please update your media player by following one of the links above.
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