Julien Benneteau to step down as captain of the French women's tennis team

His contract as head of the French women's tennis team expires this summer, but Julien Benneteau "did not wish to seek a new mandate as captain," the French Tennis Federation (FFT) announced in a press release issued on Tuesday, April 29. "We noted that we were reaching the end of a cycle and that it was necessary (...) to pass the torch to a new captain who could give this team a new dynamic," explained Gilles Moretton, the president of the body.

Julien Benneteau will therefore be leaving the position he has held since 2019. In his first year, he led Les Bleues to victory in the Billie Jean King Cup – the former name of the Fed Cup – but they were relegated to the second division in 2024.

In April, during a promotion-relegation tournament in Vilnius, the French failed to secure a place in the play-offs, scheduled for November, which would have allowed them to return to the group of the world's best nations in 2026.

In Lithuania, "some players were exemplary while others did not assume their responsibilities," the captain had lamented, according to comments reported by the sports daily L'Equipe . Forced to line up Alizé Cornet, who had just returned to the courts after a break of almost a year, he had criticized the refusals to take the racket of Diane Parry and Caroline Garcia, who had cited injuries.

"At some point, we have to ask ourselves the question: what is my pain threshold and what is my capacity to overcome this pain when there is no risk of it getting worse? What does the French team represent?" Julien Benneteau had snapped.

In the FFT press release, the player thanked the country's second largest sports federation – with more than 1.1 million members – for having "entrusted him with this mission, which he has passionately pursued for six years . " "I hope this team quickly regains its rightful place among the world's elite," he added, while France now only has one player in the Top 100, Varvara Gracheva ( ^66th ).