Monfils has been a staple of the French Davis Cup team for many years and oftentimes he had very inspiring performances beating players he did not regularly beat on the tour. His 2021 season has been a below-average one for his standards which is why Team Captain Sebastian Grosjean decided to leave him out of the Team.
Speaking on his decision Grosjean explained:
“I spoke with Gaël, he understands my choice. It’s my choice."
The choice is a curious one as Monfils looked much better in the past few months even reaching a final. He did lose in Sofia to Sinner but his form has been more impressive than that of Richard Gasquet who has been selected to the team. Grosjean did explain that Monfils might still get into the team if his form improves in the next few events.
Grosjean also joined several current and former ATP players expressing a preference for the old Davis Cup format saying:
“It’s the formula, we’re going to play it and continue to represent the French team as best we can. But if in the future, it were possible to return to the “home and away” formula, it would be great."