Belgrade: Novak Djokovic is world No 3, a grand slam champion and the talisman for Serbia's Davis Cup quest but for France he is the tip of the iceberg.
Guy Forget's team prepare for this weekend's Davis Cup final fearing that, even if they silence the Belgrade crowd by taking care of Djokovic, victory will still be out of their reach.
The task facing the French is daunting because Serbia boast their strongest ever Davis Cup lineup, with Viktor Troicki, Janko Tipsarevic and Nenad Zimonjic providing consistency, flair and doubles expertise behind Djokovic's all-round talent.
"Everybody is talking about Novak, but in the semi-finals it was Tipsarevic who won both his singles and showed that he is a great player," France captain Forget told reporters.
"Troicki is also playing very well, and so the home crowd is not our main concern — it's the fact that we will have to play very well if we are to have a chance to win."
Maiden victory
Serbia coach Bogdan Obradovic could not have asked for a better build-up to the final.
After Tipsarevic claimed two points in the 3-2 semi-final win over Czech Republic in September, Troicki won the Kremlin Cup in October and last weekend Zimonjic captured the ATP World Tour Finals doubles title with Daniel Nestor in London.
It suggests Serbia are ready to win the Davis Cup in their first final appearance.
They reached the World Group for the first time in 2008 and, having twice preserved their top-tier status following first-round defeats, they made this year's final with wins over the United States, Croatia and the Czechs.
Zimonjic, the 34-year-old with two Wimbledon and one French Open doubles titles to his name, is likely to partner Tipsarevic in the doubles rubber, while Djokovic and Troicki should feature in tomorrow's opening singles.
Forget does not have as many options as his Serbian counterpart.
The French are missing Jo-Wilfried Tsonga with a knee injury, so look to a quartet of world No 12 Gael Monfils, Michael Llodra, Gilles Simon and Arnaud Clement.
"The players make things happen and my job is to make sure my team stay focused and in good shape so that they can be on top of their game," Forget said.
"Not having a player like Jo on the team is a minus but, on the other hand, these guys here have made it to the final almost without him so they deserve to be in the final."
