Vintage Federer seals first Davis Cup for Switzerland

Monday, 24 November 2014 00:56 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Roger Federer produced a vintage performance to crush Richard Gasquet 6-4 6-2 6-2 and seal Switzerland’s maiden Davis Cup title with a 3-1 win over hosts France on Sunday.

Switzerland’s team members including Davis Cup tennis team captain Severin Luthi (L), Roger Federer (2ndL) and Stanislas Wawrinka (2ndR) pose with the Davis Cup trophy after winning the Davis Cup tennis tournament final match against France at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Villeneuve d’Ascq, near Lille, November 23, 2014. Roger Federer beat Richard Gasquet on Sunday to give Switzerland their first Davis Cup title with a 3-1 victory over hosts France in the final – Reuters The 17-times grand slam champion shook off back problems during the weekend and recovered from Friday’s defeat by Gael Monfils to hand France a third defeat in their last three finals. With Federer imperious on serve, there was a sense of inevitability in the air at the Pierre Mauroy stadium despite the support of a record 27,448 raucous crowd and Gasquet’s decent level of play. He made more unforced errors than the gifted Frenchman – 24 to 21 – but hit an astonishing 62 winners, kneeling down before lying on his chest after wrapping up the match with a cunning drop shot. “We fought hard for it. I’ve been playing this game for almost 15 years and clearly I had never come as close than this past weekend,” said world number two Federer, for whom the only major title missing from his collection is now an Olympic singles gold medal. “I’m happy I stayed calm and played a good match when I had to. I’m really happy for all the guys in the team.”