London: French tennis star Richard Gasquet says Euro 2016 football organisers must go ahead with the competition in his country because it would serve as the perfect riposte to the terrorists behind the recent attacks in Paris.

Gasquet, who was one of those attending last week’s football friendly between Germany and France at the Stade de France when the terrorists struck, said that the perfect answer to such unwanted elements was to simply go ahead with things as planned.

“What happened in Paris that night was sad and bad at the same time. Life has never been the same after that. And I think life will never be the same again for anyone, not with these sort of elements wanting to spoil the peace of this world,” Gasquet told Gulf News.

“I believe that the Euro 2016 must go on as planned next year. I would say the security needs to be big, and it will play a big part from now in the world. Life will be different from now on, but we need to go like normal,” he added.

Focusing on tennis, Gasquet said he believes France will emerge Davis Cup champions next year as, according to him, they have the “best team-ever” to challenge any of the big tennis nations.

Gasquet was on stand-by for the year-end Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena. With no injuries marring the singles competition, he will now head back to his base in Switzerland for a much-needed break. The 27-year-old has had a reasonably good season, winning two singles titles while also making it to the semi-finals of Wimbledon.

Runners-up in 2014, France last won the Davis Cup in 2001, beating Australia 3-2 in Melbourne. Since then a new crop of players have made their way through, but France have been unable to replicate their performance just after the turn of the century.

Earlier this year, France lost 1-3 to Great Britain in the quarter-finals. Last year, they fell to Switzerland in the final and. Before that, they ended runners-up to Serbia in the 2010 final.

Next year, France will compete in the World Group for the 34th time in 36 years, which ranks them fifth in this category.

“At the moment, France has a team that can easily win the Davis Cup,” said Gasquet who leads the team as the highest ranked player at World No 9. France can also call upon a talented bunch of players in the form of Jo-Wilfred Tsonga (10), Gilles Simon (15), Benoit Paire (19), Gael Monfils (22), Jeremy Chardy (31) and Adrian Mannarino (47).

“There we have a full squad in the top 50. We now have the players; we simply need to believe that we can do it as a country and win the Davis Cup yet again. It has been a long time, and the current generation of players deserves to reward themselves with this highest honour in men’s tennis,” Gasquet told Gulf News.

“For two years, we have made it to the final [2010 and 2014]. It is high time we got together as a team and deliver to make France proud. I think the Davis Cup is what tennis in France needs,” he added.