Despite being the visitors, Team France looked primed to spoil Canada’s party this week in Quebec City. The French are bringing three Top 50 players, a fourth inside the Top 100, and a five-time Grand Slam doubles champion to the Davis Cup Qualifiers Second Round tie.
For comparison, Team Canada presented by IGA only has one player ranked inside the Top 200 on their roster (although that player is the world No. 5).
Will France be able to overcome the hosts and their raucous supporters inside Centre Videotron? Let’s meet the men looking to deny Canada a trip to Bologna.
Arthur Rinderknech
In the absence of Cincinnati champion Arthur Fils, world No. 32 Rinderknech is expected to play the role of France’s No. 1 singles player. Things bode well for the 31-year-old in Quebec, as he just had his best result at a big event in 2026 just a couple of hours down the highway in Montreal, reaching the fourth round of the National Bank Open.
2026 has been a bit of a disappointment for Rinderknech after his career year in 2025. Last season, he had the best result of his career at a major, reaching the fourth round of the US Open. He then reached the biggest final of his career at the Masters 1000 event in Shanghai, beating five seeded opponents on his way to the final (where he famously lost to his cousin, Valentin Vacherot). One of those seeded victims was a potential opponent this week in Quebec City, Canadian No. 1 Félix Auger-Aliassime.
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This year though, Montreal represented his only trip past the third round of a “Big” (Grand Slam or Masters 1000) event. He only has six wins over Top 50 opponents and has a losing record overall this year at 18-20. However, he did win both of his matches in France’s Qualifiers First Round tie in February in straight sets.
Luca Van Assche
If Rinderknech has struggled with form lately, the same cannot be said for the projected French No. 2. Van Assche has been on fire lately, with a 19-7 record since Roland-Garros across the ATP and ATP Challenger Tours with three titles to his name, one tour-level and two Challengers.
There also may be no player on the planet more comfortable and confident playing in Quebec City. One of those Challenger titles came at the Challenger Banque Nationale Quebec in this same city where he is competing in Davis Cup this week.
Van Assche’s victory at the ATP 250 in Estoril was the first of his career. That run included impressive wins over Andrey Rublev, Pablo Carreno Busta, and Alexander Blockx. He also upset No. 29 seed Cameron Norrie at the US Open. He hit his career-high ranking of No. 40 in August and is currently ranked No. 42.
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The 22-year-old has only ever played one Davis Cup match in his career, a straight-set win against Chinese Taipei in the 2024 Qualifiers.
Quentin Halys
Another Frenchman who picked up a title over the summer, Halys tore through the Kitzhbuhel draw in July, winning his first tour-level title without dropping a set. He followed that up by qualifying for Cincinnati where he nearly scored a Top 10 upset against Alex de Minaur in the second round, just falling short in a third-set tiebreak.
Earlier in the year, Halys had his best run at a Masters 1000 event, reaching the fourth round of Miami. That run included a first-round win over a potential opponent this week, Liam Draxl.
2026 has been full of career-bests for Halys. On top of his first title and best Masters 1000 result, he had or matched his best finish at all four Grand Slams. At both Roland-Garros and the US Open, he took sets off of the eventual champion Alexander Zverev, even being a tiebreak away from stopping the German in his tracks when he led two sets to one in their second-round clash a couple of weeks ago in New York.
Read also: Dancevic Embracing New Experience at Davis Cup in Quebec City
Like Van Assche, Halys has only played one Davis Cup match in his career, and it was in that exact same tie against Chinese Taipei. He too won in straight sets.
Benjamin Bonzi
The world No. 92 picked up his game over the summer, reaching the quarter-finals of the Quebec City Challenger (losing to Van Assche) then getting to the semis of the ATP 250 event in Winston-Salem. At the US Open, he upset rising Peruvian star Ignacio Buse, who had just beaten him in the final four of Winston-Salem, on his way to the third round, which matched his career-best result at a major.
Some of Bonzi’s best results in his career have come indoors in similar conditions to what they will have this week in Quebec City. Two of the Frenchman’s three ATP Finals were indoors, including his lone title in Metz in 2024.
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Unlike his compatriots, Bonzi has had a tougher go in Davis Cup competition. He won his debut match in 2022 but has not been victorious in any of his subsequent four. His last Davis Cup match was in 2023.
Pierre-Hugues Herbert
The 35-year-old is the most experienced and decorated member of Team France. Herbert is one of the most successful doubles players of the last decade, with five major titles, including a Career Grand Slam, on his resume.
While it has been a few years since he won a Big title and he has slid a little down the rankings, currently coming in at No. 29 on the ATP Tour in doubles, the French veteran is still a force to be reckoned with. Herbert reached the ATP 500 final earlier this year in Barcelona and won two titles in 2025, both on indoor hard courts with a member of this week’s French squad (Marseille with Bonzi, Metz with Halys). He and Halys also reached the semifinals of Roland-Garros this spring.
Herbert has also been a monster in Davis Cup throughout his career, boasting a 15-3 record in doubles, including a win this February with Bonzi in the Qualifiers First Round against Slovakia. He was a key member of France’s Davis Cup-winning team in 2017, getting the doubles point in the final with Richard Gasquet.
CLICK HERE for everything you need to know about the Davis Cup Qualifiers Second Round tie in Quebec City between Canada and France.
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Feature Photo: Pascal Ratthe
