Hamburg, Germany, 15 September 2022 | Leigh Rogers

The Australian team has made an impressive start in the round-robin stage of the 2022 Davis Cup Finals.

After dominating Belgium in the opening tie, the Australian team now turns its attention to a showdown with France in Hamburg today.

“The job’s not done,” reiterated Matt Ebden, who is relishing a return to the Australian Davis Cup team for the first time in four years.

France’s opening tie against Germany went down to the wire, decided in a final set tiebreak in the doubles rubber. After suffering a heart-breaking 1-2 loss, the French team will be determined to bounce back strongly against Australia.

France is fielding an experienced team, which includes former world No.1 doubles player Nicolas Mahut and three-time Grand Slam singles semifinalist Richard Gasquet, a former world No.7 who also claimed an Olympic bronze medal in doubles in 2012.

“France is a bit of an unknown,” admitted Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt.

“They’ve always got a good doubles pair in there, which will make it tough and puts a lot of pressure on the singles matches.

“There are a few guys that sort of fly under the radar – (Adrian) Mannarino and in particular, Benjamin Bonzi, who I rate. He’s a lot better player than his ranking. So we won’t be taking them lightly at all.”

This showdown also renews a rivalry between Hewitt and French captain Sebastien Grosjean. They played each other nine times during their playing careers, including in the 1999 and 2001 Davis Cup Finals. Hewitt won six of their encounters.

The Australian team needs to finish among the top two nations in their four-nation group this week to advance to the knockout stage of the finals in November.

> VIEW: Davis Cup Finals schedule

The Davis Cup Finals are broadcast live in Australia on the Nine Network, with Australia’s tie against France beginning at 10pm AEST tonight.

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