France and Serbia confirm Davis Cup line-ups

France and Serbia went against the world rankings as they named their second singles players for the Davis Cup final, which starts on Friday.

Serbia have chosen Janko Tipsarevic ahead of the higher-ranked Victor Troicki and France have turned to Gilles Simon instead of Michael Llodra.

Novak Djokovic spearheads the Serbian challenge, with Gael Monfils the number one singles player for France.

Both Troicki and Llodra are set to play in the doubles in Belgrade.

Troicki will partner Nenad Zimonjic with Llodra linking up with Arnaud Clement, while Llodra could well be drafted in for the final singles match if the tie goes down to the wire.
The action kicks off at Belgrade Arena when Tipsarevic takes on Monfils before world number three Djokovic faces Simon.

The teams have come through the draw in contrasting fashions, with France losing only one rubber in three matches and demolishing two-time defending champions Spain 5-0 in the quarter-finals.

Serbia battled past the United States 3-2 in the first round and had to come from 2-1 down to beat the Czechs in the last four.

France have won the title nine times, most recently in 2001, while Serbia are making their first appearance in the final.

Former Australian Open champion Djokovic said winning the Davis Cup "would be one of the biggest achievements in my personal career".

"It's very open, very unpredictable, and the help of the crowd will be very much necessary. We are expecting a packed arena and hopefully we will get a win," he said.

France are without world number 13 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga but that has been the case for much of the year and captain Guy Forget believes the confidence they gained from beating Spain could prove crucial.

"The team suddenly realised, even without Tsonga, we are able to beat a team who won twice," he said.

"They have the potential, all of them, on a good day to beat almost anyone. We'll see if the story can repeat itself."