France pick Gael Monfils to face Germany in Davis Cup

Paris: Gael Monfils was named on Tuesday in France`s Davis Cup team to play Germany in Frankfurt next month despite reports he had told captain Arnaud Clement he wanted a rest. 

The tie will be a rematch of last year`s hard-fought world group quarter-final, with the Germans looking to end a 76-year losing streak against France who were runners-up to Switzerland in 2014.

French media had reported that Monfils, the French number three and world number 19, had told Clement he did not want to take part in the tie.

Clement`s choice was already limited. Top-ranked Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the world No. 12, was out of the running with an arm injury and Julien Benneteau has a groin strain.

Gilles Simon, the world number 16, Richard Gasquet and Nicholas Mahut were also named in the team with Benneteau in reserve.

The first-round world group clash takes place on March 6-8 against a German team whose highest-ranked player is Philipp Kohlschreiber, the world number 25.