Tie: Japan v France
Date: 3 to 5 February
Tie Time
Day 1 - 11am SGT/8:30am IST/3am GMT
Day 2 - 12pm SGT/9:30am IST/4am GMT
Day 3 - 11am SGT/8:30am IST/3am GMT
Competition: Davis Cup, World Group Round 1
Venue: Ariake Colosseum, Tokyo
TV Channel: Star Hub Channel 201 will provide live TV coverage in Singapore.
Live streaming: The matches can be watched online at Tennis Channel Plus.
Overview
Japan begin their Davis Cup 2017 campaign against last year's semi-finalists France at home on hard courts. Both teams will be without their top-ranked stars for the upcoming tie, which will be played from Friday.
While the hosts will miss world number five Kei Nishikori, who has opted out due to a minor hip injury during his Round of 16 defeat to eventual champion Roger Federer at last month's Australian Open, France will miss two of key stars Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Monfils, who lost to Rafael Nadal in the fourth round in Melbourne, has been omitted by captain Yannick Noah as he felt that the world number nine lacked commitment towards Davis Cup tie. Tsonga, who lost Australian Open quarter-final to Wawrinka, has opted out due to personal commitments.
In the absence of key stars, France will have Richard Gasquet (18) as their highest-ranked singles player while Japan have Yoshihito Nishioka (world number 85) to lead their campaign. However, the the focus will be on the visiting doubles pairing of top-ranked Nicolas Mahut and Pierre Hugues Herbert.
France are overwhelming favourites to beat Japan and set-up a quarter-final clash against either Canada or Great Britain. Notably, they have beaten the hosts on all three previous Davis Cup meetings. Japan, who were ousted in the first-round by Great Britian last year, have an uphill task without Nishikori ahead of them.
Team News
Japan: Yoshito Nishioka (MS - 85), Taro Daniel (MS - 114), Yuichi Sugita (MD - 117), Yasutaka Uchiyama (MD - 230)
France: Richard Gasquet (MS - 18), Gilles Simon (MS - 24), Nicolas Mahut (MD - 1), Pierre-Hugues Herbert (MD - 2)
Match schedule
Rubber 1
Daniel v Gasquet
Rubber 2
Nishioka v Simon
Rubber 3
Sugita/Uchiyama v Herbert/Mahut
Rubber 4
Nishioka v Gasquet
Rubber 5
Daniel v Simon
