Lille, France (SportsNetwork.com) – Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka cruised
past Richard Gasquet and Julien Benneteau to give Switzerland a 2-1 lead over
France in the Davis Cup final.
Federer and Wawrinka won Saturday’s doubles match by a 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 margin.
The Swiss drew first blood on Friday when Australian Open champion Wawrinka
defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets, while the nightcap saw Gael Monfils
douse the former world No. 1 Federer in straight sets on some slow red clay in
Lille.
The Wimbledon runner-up Federer pulled out of last week’s championship match
at the ATP World Tour Finals in London because of his back, a problem that
slowed the Swiss legend mightily in 2013.
Sunday’s reverse singles will pit the 17-time Grand Slam king Federer against
Tsonga and Wawrinka versus Monfils.
The best-of-five tie is being staged on an indoor clay court at Stade
Pierre Mauroy in front of a capacity crowd of more than 27,000, which sets a
new record for an officially-sanctioned tennis match, overtaking the Spain-
United States Davis Cup final at the Estadio Olympico de Sevilla in 2004.
Switzerland is captained by Severin Luthi, while France is guided by
former Aussie runner-up Arnaud Clement.
The French are 10-2 all-time versus the Swiss in Davis Cup play. The two
nations last met in a 2004 quarterfinal that was won by France.
The nine-time champion French are seeking their first Davis Cup title in 13
years, while Switzerland and the iconic Federer have never hoisted the
coveted 114-year-old chalice.
The Swiss finished as runners-up in 1992.
