Former world No. 12 Paul Henri Mathieu has nothing but good to say of rising French stars Hugo Gaston and Arhur Rinderknech as he believes they deserved to be nominated for the Davis Cup Finals. Gaston, who is enjoying a career-high ranking of No.
66 in the world, ended runner-up in Bastad and in four Challenger events before making his maiden Masters quarterfinal at the Paris Masters. Gaston's breakthrough season didn't go unnoticed as French Davis Cup team captain Sebastian Grosjean added him to the team following his run in Paris.
On Wednesday, Grosjean decided he won't use Gaston in the group stage. "Hugo fits in very well in the team because he really already knows all the players and most of the staff. He arrived in Paris last Wednesday with his coach who spent 2-3 days with us and it is going.
really very good," Mathieu said, per FFT. "He had a great season with very good results on clay before showing at the end of the season that he could also play very well on the indoor surface. It shows that he will have to be counted on for the next few years, that he is versatile and with a good room for improvement which should allow him to continue to climb up the rankings."
Gaston, Rinderknech nominated for the first time
Rinderknech won the Istanbul Challenger at the beginning of the year before making his maiden ATP semifinal in July.
Also, Rinderknech made ATP quarterfinals on six different occasions. "Arthur also had a great season. First on the Challenger Tour and then making the quarterfinals at an ATP 250 events. He has been very consistent throughout the season, he is one of the French players who has won the most matches on the Tour this season so he comes with a lot of confidence," Mathieu said. "Arthur and Hugo are very happy to be here. It's fantastic for them to end the year like this."