Injury-plagued France will have to overcome the absence of its three highest-ranked players when it takes on Austria in the first round of the Davis Cup this weekend.
The 21st-ranked Richard Gasquet pulled out with a sore right shoulder following his semifinal exit at last week's Dubai Championships. Earlier, France captain Guy Forget had to leave No. 11 Gael Monfils (hand) and No. 17 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (groin) out of his squad for the indoor clay-court series, which starts Friday.
''It's going to be a tough match,'' Forget said Tuesday. ''Even for us as last year's finalists, every match is a great challenge, no matter if it's the final or the first round ... All teams are good, you can't expect any easy matches.''
Without his leading trio, Forget will face little trouble in chosing the lineup.
The 30th-ranked Gilles Simon is his No. 1 singles player, while Julien Benneteau and Michel Llodra will team up in doubles.
Llodra is likely to take the second singles spot, though Forget might pick Benneteau or Gasquet's replacement Jeremy Chardy instead.
''Gilles is our seeded player. The other player will be a surprise until (the draw on) Thursday,'' said Forget, who called his team ''very competitive.''
Nine-time champion France was missing Tsonga, the former Australian Open runner-up, when it lost the Davis Cup final to Serbia last year.
Austria did not expect much of an advantage from the opponent's injury worries.
''We know how strong France still is,'' Austria's No. 1 Jurgen Melzer said. ''It's just Monfils who is really lacking. We'll see how the others handle it.''
Austria, which has not been past the first round of the Davis Cup since 1995, is hoping for support by a 6,000-capacity crowd at the unusual venue - a hangar at Austria's main airport, 20 kilometers east of Vienna.
''The fans will help us. I hope for a full house,'' Melzer said. ''Chardy has never played Davis Cup before, let's see how he handles the pressure. I think he could get a bit shaky.''
Melzer expected Simon to be ''my hardest opponent for sure, because his game doesn't suit me.''
''I have a positive record against the other players, except for Benneteau,'' the Austrian said. ''I've beaten both Llodra and Chardy a couple of times, but let's see who'll actually be playing. This is the poker (game) that makes Davis Cup appealing.''
