GENEVA: Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka both won to put Switzerland 2-0 up against Italy on the first day of their Davis Cup semi-final in Geneva yesterday.
Federer defeated Simone Bolleli 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, 6-4 in the opening rubber and then Wawrinka crushed Fabio Fognini 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.
A win in today’s doubles will mean that the Swiss will be in the Davis Cup final for just the second time after finishing second to the United States in 1992.
Federer, a 17-time Grand Slam champion who has never appeared in a Davis Cup final, was taken all the way in the first set against Bolleli, but eased ahead by winning the tie-break.
But once Federer grabbed the first service break of the match after more than an hour’s play to move 5-3 up, Bolleli’s standard of play started to fall away.
Another break of serve thanks to a netcord in the third game of the third set sent Federer on his way and he made no mistake after that.
“It was quite frustrating at times but that’s indoor tennis,” the Swiss star said of a match played in front of a capacity 18,000 crowd.
“Playing beautiful, nice points didn’t really matter. I just stayed with him.”
Australian Open champion Wawrinka was never troubled by Fognini, dominating the Italian with 37 winners, and 16 aces.
France were 2-0 up over the Czech Republic at the end of the first day in the other semi-final in Paris against the defending champions the Czech Republic.
In Paris, wins for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet put France on the cusp of a first Davis Cup final since 2010 after yesterday’s opening rubbers in the semi-final against defending champions the Czech Republic.
Playing at the French Open base of Roland Garros in Paris, French number one Tsonga coasted to a 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 win over Lukas Rosol following Gasquet’s upset 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 victory over top Czech player Tomas Berdych.
A win in today’s doubles will be enough to ensure that the French reach the final where they would play either Switzerland or Italy, who are contesting the other semi-final in Geneva.
In Bangalore, Serbia made light of world number one Novak Djokovic’s absence by winning both the opening singles against hosts India in the Davis Cup World Group play-off tie.
Dusan Lajovic, a 24-year-old ranked 61st in the world, breezed past Yuki Bhambri 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 in two hours in the first match in front of some 2,500 Indian fans.
Filip Krajinovic completed a dominant day for Serbia with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over India’s top player Somdev Devvarman in the second singles.
In the doubles today, India’s 41-year-old veteran Leander Paes will partner Rohan Bopanna against Ninad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac.AFP
