France has opted to play Belgium in the city of Lille for their Davis Cup final clash in November.
The tie between the two countries will take place at the Stade Pierre Mauroy, the same place when France recorded their semifinal 3-1 win over Serbia last weekend. According to the French Tennis Federation, their recent tie attracted an attendance record of almost 48,000 fans during a three-day period.
The Stade Pierre Mauroy is a multi-purpose stadium that was opened in August 2012. The 27,500 capacity venue has a retractable roof and has previously hosted the 2015 Eurobasket competition and a series of matches during the 2016 European football championships.
“After studying several possibilities, and in particular that of the U Arena of Nanterre, whose file was also of high quality, we finally confirmed the Pierre-Mauroy stadium, which the Blues (French Davis Cup team nickname), as well as the technical teams of the FFT, now know perfectly.” Said FFT president Bernard Giudicelli.
France will be aiming to win their 34th Davis Cup title and their first since 2001. Since last winning the title, the have had a settle for runner-up on three occasions. Most recently in 2014 when they lost to Switzerland at the same venue that this year’s final will be held.
Belgium will be aiming to win the competition for the first time in history. They booked their place in the final with a 3-2 win over Australia, winning both of their singles matches on the final day of the tie. Only twice before has the country been runner-ups in the competition back in 1904 and 2015.
November’s tie will take place between 22-24 and be played indoors on a hard-court. Historically, France leads Belgium 4-3 in their head-to-head, but the two countries haven’t met in the competition since 2001.
