Behind Fed and Wawrinka, Swiss Capture First Davis Cup Title

November 24, 2014 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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After Roger Federer’s loss to Gael Monfils on Friday, the Davis Cup Final was all tied at 1-1 heading into a crucial doubles match that would swing the best-of-five series. Thus, Swiss captain Severin Luthi made the decision to play Federer & Stan Wawrinka in the doubles contest instead of originally slated Marco Chiudinelli & Michael Lammer.

The decision, albeit a rather easy one, paid off as Federer & Wawrinka knocked off France’s Julien Benneteau & Richard Gasquet 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 on Saturday to give Switzerland a 2-1 advantage. With Federer & Wawrinka both set to play singles matches on Sunday, the Swiss needed a win from either one of its top five players to clinch the countries first ever Davis Cup title.

On Sunday, Federer was up first as he took on Gasquet with a chance to clinch the title for his country. He broke the Frenchman early in the third game to take a 2-1 break advantage, which would prove to be the only break in the set. Despite fumbling three set points at 5-3, the second-ranked player in the world held in the following game to win the 45 minute set 6-4.

He won 21 of 25 service points in the frame which never allowed Gasquet a good opportunity to break. Federer then carried that momentum into the second frame, notching a break in the opening game to get the early break advantage.

The Swiss would then break again in the seventh game and hold in the eighth to cruise to the 6-2 set win.

Despite the back problems that hampered him in the week leading up to the final, Federer was the more aggressive player, coming to the net on a number of chances while backing Gasquet up behind the baseline. At 2-2, Federer notched a break point to take a 3-2 advantage, and from there the Swiss could taste the title.

Another break in the seventh game just about sealed it, and Federer would go on to serve out the match and the final for a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 victory.

“I’m unbelievably happy. Amazing feeling to be celebrating with my friends,” said Federer. “Just a great match, great atmosphere. It was a beautiful weekend for tennis. We fought hard for it, I’ve been playing this game for almost 15 years now and clearly I’ve never come as close as this last weekend. I’m happy I was able to stay calm and play a good match when I had to and I’m happy for all the guys on the team.”

While Federer won the clinching match, Wawrinka came up huge over the weekend. He started things off with a win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and then paired up with Federer to win the doubles match.

Federer was quick to give kudos to his whole team.

“Everybody worked incredibly hard to get me match ready, and Stan has put in so much effort over the years and played an unbelievable weekend, and that’s what gave me the opportunity today,” said Federer. “I’m very much aware of that and this one’s for the boys. This is not for me, this is for them.”

For Wawrinka, he becomes the first player since Andre Agassi in 1992 to win his first career Grand Slam trophy and a Davis Cup title in the same year.

While it was all smiles for the Swiss on Sunday, a disappointed French team came to grips with a loss on their home clay as it was seeking a 10th Davis Cup title.

“Right now it’s tough,” said France’s Captain Arnaud Clement. “It’s difficult to accept that loss for all of us, for the players, for the staff, and also for the fans. They believed we could win. The quality of great champions is to be able to bounce back, to take the lessons and come back very strongly.”

The end of the Davis Cup marks the end of the 2014 season. There is now six weeks from now until the tour picks up again at the exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi when the calendar turns to 2015. 


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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