France picks Herbert against Goffin-led Belgium

LILLE, France: France captain Yannick Noah selected Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Lucas Pouille, Richard Gasquet and Pierre-Hugues Herbert to face Belgium in the Davis Cup final in Lille this weekend.
The France team was announced by the French Tennis Federation on Twitter ahead of Thursday’s draw for the Friday to Sunday face-off against a Belgian team led by David Goffin. Gasquet, ranked 31st in the world, comes in for Nicolas Mahut, who with Herbert combined to win the 2015 US Open and the 2016 Wimbledon doubles titles.
Herbert’s inclusion comes despite the 26-year-old suffering a back injury which caused the doubles pair to forfeit their last group match at ATP Finals in London last week.Julien Benneteau, a former French Open doubles winner who is back to his best at the age of 35, was named by Noah as a stand-by option.
For Belgium, seventh-ranked Goffin is joined by Steve Darcis and Ruben Bemelmans, with doubles specialist Joris de Loore preferred to Arthur de Greef by captain Johan van Herck. De Loore was injured for Belgium’s semi-final against Australia in September.