Monfils takes over as coach of France in the Davis Cup

The Leeds United team thwarted the awakening of its guest, Tottenham Hotspur, and defeated it with an unanswered goal, on Saturday, in the tenth round of the English Premier League.

Noah Okafor scored the only goal for the hosts in the 79th minute.

The goal came after a long throw-in and a headed pass from Dominic Calvert-Lewin to Okafor, who dribbled inside the penalty area before shooting into the net.

With this goal, Leeds United translated its advantage in the match after 16 attack attempts, including 3 shots at Tottenham goalkeeper Antonin Kinski.

As for the London team, it made only three attempts at its opponent’s goal throughout the match, the most dangerous of which was a header from Jan-Paul van Hecke after a cross from Andrew Robertson, which was saved by Leeds goalkeeper James Trafford, depriving Tottenham of a draw in a deadly stoppage time.

With this result, Leeds United achieved its third victory in the competition and its first in the last 6 rounds, after two losses and 3 draws in the past five rounds, raising its score to 14 points, and rising to eighth place.

On the other hand, this loss broke a series of 3 consecutive victories for Tottenham, leaving its score frozen at 12 points in tenth place, after suffering its fourth loss in the league.

Leeds United achieved its first victory since the landslide victory over Newcastle United, 4-1, after a very exciting scenario.

The home team snatched victory with Okafor's goal just 97 seconds after he came on as a substitute for his teammate Lucas Nemesha, rewarding German Daniel Farke, the coach of the Leeds team.

This scenario dashed Tottenham's hopes of achieving a fourth successive victory, after they were unable to achieve any victory in the first 6 rounds of the league championship this season.

In addition to Noah Okafor's goal, the Tottenham players and their Italian coach Roberto De Cerpi strongly objected to Leeds United player Jayden Bogle not being sent off after his violent intervention on Matthias Till in the 34th minute.

The video assistant referee, VAR, intervened and indicated that Bogle did not deserve to be sent off after he was late in reaching the ball, and the nails of his shoe collided with Till’s ankle, which was in severe pain.

Frenchman Thiel tried to continue playing, but was forced to leave the field, to be replaced by Dominic Solanke in the 43rd minute.

After the international break, Leeds United will face a difficult confrontation in the next round when they visit Chelsea on November 21, and on the same day, Tottenham will face an easier test in theory when they host Ipswich Town.

The French Tennis Federation announced on Saturday that just one month after Gael Monfils retired, the former player joined the national team as its captain.

Monfils, formerly ranked sixth in the world, officially retired last month after his exit in the second round of the US Open last September, thus putting an end to a professional career that lasted 22 years, which saw him twice reaching the semi-finals of one of the four major tournaments.

But Monfils is set to sit out when France begins its Davis Cup qualifiers next February, having taken over as team captain from Paul-Henri Mathieu, who led France to the quarter-finals last year.

“I am very proud to take over the leadership of the French team,” Monfils said in a statement. This blue shirt means a lot to me.”

The 40-year-old player represented France in eight editions of the Davis Cup, winning 12 of 15 singles matches. He played one of his best matches in the 2014 final, where he defeated Roger Federer in two straight sets, despite France losing the match to Switzerland.

Monfils was not part of the team when France won its tenth Davis Cup title in 2017, but he expressed his desire to add more titles to the trophy cabinet as captain of the team, a role that does not require participation in matches.

He added: “I want to build a real project based on teamwork, and create the momentum that will enable us to win titles together.”

German tennis legend Boris Becker praised his compatriot Alexander Zverev, considering that he deserves the top spot in the World Professional Tennis Association rankings at the present time, despite the recent disputes between them.

Becker, who won three Wimbledon titles, said in an interview with the Maine Post newspaper on Saturday: “Zverev may be making a greater effort than any other tennis player.” This is the reason for its success.”

Zverev's rise to the top of the world rankings sparked controversy in tennis circles about his eligibility for first place, especially in light of the absence of his most prominent rivals, the Italian Jannik Sinner and the Spanish Carlos Alcarras, for periods due to injuries, in addition to his negative record against the top ten seeds during the current year.

“If players like Sinner or Alcarras cannot play at their highest level for a year due to injuries, it is not their fault,” Becker said. So I congratulate Zverev. “Reaching first place is the best thing that could have happened to German tennis.”

The relationship between Becker, who is 58 years old, and Zverev, 29 years old, became tense after the latter criticized Becker's previous statements about not enjoying sufficient popularity in Germany despite his successes.

Zverev said, in response to these statements: “I see that he is making illogical statements as usual. I think that he is currently looking for anything that might belittle me a little.” “This is his right, and he can do whatever he wants.”

When Becker was asked about the reasons for the passage of 35 years before another German player appeared at the top of the world rankings after him, he attributed the matter to the decline in the motivation of young players, adding: “Maybe the enthusiasm of young people is no longer as strong as it was 20 years ago. Success does not come from nowhere, but requires a lot of work, diligence, and willpower. “We in Germany were better at this than before, in all areas.”

Becker called on young talents to show greater willingness to put tennis at the top of their priorities, considering that the problem is not related to the structure of the German Tennis Federation, “but to the mentality.”